Hepatitis
HepatitisTHE PRIORITY OF HEPATITIS B VACCINATIONS IN CANADA
The increase in the number of children attending schools in Canada and the potential for transmission of viral infection in that environment is a problem of great size. A virus is defined as "a morbid principle, or a poisonous venom, especially one capable of being introduced into another person or animal" in The Shorter Oxford English Dictionary. Due to their miniscule size, it was not until 1885 that Adolf Mayer observed their existence in the mosaic (leaf-spot) disease of the tobacco plant, which he described as to be caused by a strangely invisible contagious agent.1 This particular living entity was so small that it readily passed through a porcelain filter. With the invention of the electron microscope by Ernst Ruska, the virus' true anatomy was first time visible to us in 1933.2 They are so infinitesimal that billions could fit into a drop of water---or a drop of human blood. Viruses have the most exquisite ability to sense the right cell surfaces. They don't just cause diseases in people, they infect every form of life on earth. Some emerging viruses are very serious. Common examples are the hepatitis viruses, B and C. The hepatitis B pattern of illness was recognized at the end of the nineteenth century, yet the virus itself was not isolated until 1963. One hundred and seventy six million people are carrying the surface antigen of this one virus globally, and the infection causes a vast amount of illness and death, including most of the fatal cases of liver cell cancer.3 To prevent the wide spread of this disease, a rush for vaccination in the elementary schools for children in the K-6 levels had been implemented in Canada. However, the most effective way to prevent chronic infection is to vaccinate against it during the neonate stage up to the age of 5, the period of where the risk is the highest. Therefore, instead of targeting elementary school children, the ministry of health should have been inoculating neonates for their first priority.
Hepatitis B (HBV) is a liver disease that causes inflammation of the liver. This inflammation can cause liver cell damage, which can lead to scarring of the liver (cirrhosis) and an increased risk of liver cancer. Each year in the U.S. more than 100,000 people contract HBV.4 Approximately 90-95% of adults will recover within six months and not contract HBV again.5 However, blood tests will always show that they have been infected with HBV and blood banks will not accept their blood. Approximately 5-10% of adults and 25-90% of children under the age of five that are infected with HBV are unable to clear the virus within six months and are considered to be chronically infected, commonly called hepatitis B chronic carriers.6
Many people with acute hepatitis B have no symptoms at all, or they may be very mild...
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