Fifty Per Cent Of Malaysians Under 30 Susceptible To Hepatitis A

It is estimated that 50 per cent of Malaysians under 30 years of age do not have antibodies against Hepatitis A and were therefore susceptible to the disease, Deputy Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Tun Razak said.
"Paradoxically, as we become more affluent and less of the population get infected at an early age, we are actually more susceptible to Hepatitis A infection as adults, as most of us do not have the antibodies to fight Hepatitis A," he said at a charity dinner organised by the Malaysian Liver Foundation here Saturday.
He said this scenario of changing epidemiology of increasing incidences among adults had been seen in the more developed countries like the United States, United Kingdom and other nations in Europe.
Najib said, however, in Malaysia the reported national incidence rate of hepatitis A dropped steadily from 2.24 per 100,000 population in 2000 to 0.42 per 100,000 population in 2004.
"This decrease in reported cases from 497 in 2000 to 107 in 2004 is due to the various preventive and control measures and strategies taken by the government to control food and waterborne diseases by improving sanitation, providing safe water and encouraging personal hygiene," he added.
Hepatitis A is an infectious food and waterborne viral disease which is especially common in children residing in developing countries.
On Hepatitis B, the Deputy Prime Minister said although this form of virus was an Asian disease, in Malaysia, the reported indidence rate decreased from 12.89 per 100,000 population in 2000 to 7.72 per 100,000 people in 2004.
Compared to 2,863 cases of Hepatitis B reported in 2000, there were only 1,795 cases reported in 2004.
Najib said Malaysia had made many exciting inroads in the field of hepatitis, not only in education but also in basic and clinical research. He said the setting up of the National Liver Registry early this year at the Selayang Hospital was very timely.
"It is my hope that the registry will store all the data pertaining to liver related diseases in the country and contribute to overall clinical management," he added.
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