Team HBV at Harvard PSA on Hepatitis B

Public Service Announcement from Team HBV at Harvard on the risks of Hepatitis B in Boston's Asian community, as well as information on free screening events.

Category:

Science & Technology

Tags:

• Harvard
• Hepatitis B
• Team HBV

[dantheman0820]

@bestozesto cont...finally, the little discrimination that does exist is purely rooted in misunderstanding and misinformation. the purpose of the jade ribbon campaign, then, is to inject good, accurate information into the community. through education and tangible health services, we can eradicate this disease and the mystery that surrounds it.

[dantheman0820]

@bestozesto cont...400 million people are infected with chronic HBV versus the 40 million that have HIV/AIDS. 10 percent of asians have the disease, so i'm not sure where you are coming from when you say that no one is a carrier and that HBV is less important than HIV. 80% of primary liver cancer is caused by HBV, and if not cancer, HBV leads to liver failure and liver cirrhosis. hence, it is not "undue stress" to know if you have the disease; it is vital information.

[dantheman0820]

@bestozesto as i said before, i am not advocating treatments for everyone. but if symptoms DO emerge and if alt/afp blood tests indicate that treatment is necessary, we need to administer treatment. and just because we are treating people does not mean we are completely ignoring the search for a cure. OF COURSE, the search for a cure is ongoing, but in the meantime, we can do something that's guaranteed to be effective: grassroots education, screening, and political advocacy.

[bestozesto]

@dantheman0820 you sound overtly zealous and i don't doubt that but if both man and wife are vaccinated and one of them happens to be a carrier how would HBV still be transmitted?my bottom line: vaccinate everyone, and vaccinate neonates but please don't overtreat or overdiagnose your patients, avoid undue distress to those who have this infection as if they have something even worse than HIV only to make them an outcast. anyone with a little clinical acumen woludn't do that.

[bestozesto]

@dantheman0820 cont...And if we are really worried about the 10 carriers(others 90 being already saved by vaccination), which no one is by the way, we should come up with a real CURE for the disease not some yearly drug updates with added or subtracted moieties only to develop resistant viral strains. Such an approach is useless, research should be directed to finding cure which is not the case especially after HBV vaccination.

[bestozesto]

@dantheman0820 vaccinated and one of them happens to be a carrier how would HBV still be transmitted?my bottom line: vaccinate everyone, and vaccinate neonates but please don't overtreat or overdiagnose your patients, avoid undue distress to those who have this infection as if they have something even worse than HIV only to make them an outcast. anyone with a little clinical acumen woludn't do that.

[dantheman0820]

@bestozesto my bottom line: there's no harm in getting more information. in fact, it is the LACK of good information that has allowed the disease to be such a global epidemic. screening represents the first step towards building a more informed society, one that can effectively stamp out hepatitis b for good. i hope you can do your part -- and, really, a favor to yourself and to your loved ones -- in getting screened today.

[dantheman0820]

@bestozesto HBV is an STD -- capable of both vertical AND horizontal transmission. if you're so keen on ensuring that newborns don't get HBV, wouldn't you also like to make sure that it isn't transmitted between spouses and sexual partners? and while we're doing that, why don't we take it a step further and test everyone?

(a note to those reading: screening does NOT have to be an out-of-the-way kind of ordeal. you can simply ask your doctor about the test during your next regular check-up.)

[dantheman0820]

@bestozesto cont...unlike small pox, hep b has no symptoms. so, no one -- including the patients themselves -- can tell the difference between the 10 carriers and the 90 that are protected. to ensure that they are indeed protected (and that they didn't have the disease to begin with), they need to get SCREENED.

[dantheman0820]

@bestozesto yes, treatment is NOT for everyone. i completely agree with that. but it should always be left open as an option. and the only way one can truly know whether or not treatment is necessary is through regular SCREENING of the liver (specifically, regular AFP and ALT tests.)