KABUL (Pajhwok): About 14,700 suspected jaundice cases were recorded and 140 patients died in the country in the first 11 months of 2024, the Ministry of Public Health (MoPH) said on Tuesday.
MoPH’s spokesman Dr. Sharafat Zaman told Pajwhok Afghan News 16,700 suspected jaundice cases were registered and among them 112 patients died due to hepatitis in the country’s health centers.
He said jaundice has different types (hepatitis B (HBV) type, means black jaundice, hepatitis A (HAV) type jaundice, and hepatitis C (HCV) type jaundice), and most patients are infected with types (B) and (A) across the country.
Zaman considered it important to raise awareness about hepatitis and explained that they were trying to increase the number of visits to the jaundice department in health centers.
“We have infectious diseases wards in provincial hospitals where hepatitis cases are treated and we have a specialized infectious diseases hospital in Kabul, where patients who cannot be treated in provinces are shifted”.
What is jaundice disease?
Dr. Faridullah Omari, a specialist trainer at the National and Specialized Hospital for Infectious Diseases in Kabul, explained jaundice was a type of liver disease that caused yellowing of the skin, eyes, and mucous membranes due to elevated levels of bilirubin (liver enzymes and pigments).
According to Omari, dizziness, loss of appetite, pain in the right side of the abdomen, mild fever, vomit, change in urine color, and yellowing of the eyes and skin are among symptoms of this disease.
The heredity, viruses, immune diseases, biliary diseases, and alcohol use can cause jaundice in a person, and sometimes the cause of this disease is unknown, he added.
“Most of cases we have are black and white jaundice in hospitals, which is transmitted through the blood”.
According to specialist trainer, using shared needles in hair salons, barbershops, dental instruments in clinics, and shared surgical instruments that are contaminated with the virus can cause the transmission of jaundice from a sick to healthy person.
He considered timely diagnosis and treatment important and said maintaining personal hygiene and administering the vaccine will prevent the spread of the disease from one person to another.
Every day, 60 people with jaundice visit this hospital and among 35 could be hospitalized, and one patient still dies every two weeks.
Meanwhile, Professor Dr. Mohammad Arif Hassanzai, head of the internal medicine department at Indira Gandhi Hospital in Kabul, explained jaundice has different types.
Also, children get various types of jaundice, especially type (C) or white jaundice, and it’s transmitted from a sick to healthy person through contaminated tools and objects. The symptoms of this disease are almost similar in all types, Hasanzai added.
The symptoms of this disease include yellowing of the eyes and skin, fever, chills, changes in urine color, loss of appetite, vomiting, and abdominal pain.
He recommended preventing this disease, strict hygiene practices should be observed, and the person with jaundice and his belongings should be separated from other healthy family members.
Dr. Hassanzai asked families to vaccinate their children against jaundice and, if symptoms of the disease are observed, to shift patient to a health center as soon as possible to prevent the disease from progressing.
Patients at Indira Gandhi’s and Antani Hospitals expressed their satisfaction with the services provided by these hospitals.
Abdul Ghaffar, a resident of Deh Sabz district, whose two-year-old grandson is hospitalized, said: “My grandson had a high fever, the color of his urine had changed, and his eyes were turning yellow. We took him to the doctor and he was given medicine. When he took the medicine, he was fine. When he didn’t take it, the fever returned. We brought him to the Child Health Hospital again. The doctors said he had jaundice and admitted him.”
His grandson was hospitalized for two days and now he is in stable condition.
“I came to this hospital due to jaundice. I have been hospitalized for five days and in the first day I was in critical condition”: Noorullah, a resident of Kunduz and a patient at the Antani hospital explained.
“First I went to Kunduz hospital, but I didn’t get better there. I came back to Kabul and, God willing, I will get better”.
When he was infected with jaundice, he could not eat properly, he felt dizzy and would vomit and his face turned yellow.
hz/ma
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