 Hello friends, myself Dr. Rohan Ramesh Badaway. I am a gastroenterologist and hepatologist at Manipal Hospital Goa. What is hepatitis B and C? These are viral infections which are mainly affecting the liver. If you see Indian scenario, almost 50 million people are affected by hepatitis B while 15 million are affected by hepatitis C. Hepatitis B is the most common cause for chronic liver disease in our country. It is also the cause for the hepatocellular carcinoma in almost half of the people. Hepatitis C is the leading cause for the cirrhosis of liver in our country. So both these diseases are having huge burden in our country. What are the modes of transmission for hepatitis B and C? So mother to child transmission which is more commonly seen with hepatitis B. It is easily prevented by checking all the pregnant women for the viral markers for both hepatitis B and C. The immunization of the child or the infant after the birth with hepatitis B can prevent the transmission to almost 90 to 95%. Second most common is shared use of reserves and needles mainly in the high-risk population like migrants, prisoners or laborers. Third is sexual transmission and fourth is with blood transfusion. Transmission due to blood transfusion is rare now because of universal checking of the donors with the viral markers. What are the modes of presentation for this hepatitis B and C? So most of the patients are asymptomatic. They develop symptoms only in the advanced stage. So hepatitis B can produce acute hepatitis, chronic hepatitis, chronic liver disease, cirrhosis and finally, hepatocellular carcinoma. While hepatitis C usually presented as a chronic liver disease then leading to cirrhosis and finally they can also be the cause for hepatocellular carcinoma. What are the treatments available? So for both the hepatitis B and C, newer oral antiviral drugs are available. These drugs are very effective almost having efficacy around 95%. So my general advice to the public is all the people should get vaccine for hepatitis B because it almost decreases transmission to 90 to 95%. Second, those who are falling in a high-risk category for this viral infection should get tested with viral markers and if required they can get treated with their concerned doctor.