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Shanghai stays alert in battling hepatitis
By Cai Wenjun |
July 28, 2011, Thursday
|
Print Edition
Print Edition
BEAUTY salons and foot massage parlors have become new platforms for hepatitis B infection in the city in recent years, doctors said on World Hepatitis Day yesterday.
The incidence of acute hepatitis in the city dropped by more than 81 percent in the past decade and reached the lowest level in history, thanks to effective disease-prevention and control systems, said the Shanghai Health Bureau.
The huge decrease is credited to people's increasing awareness of the traditional infection channels of the blood-transmitted disease, such as skin cuts and use of injection needles.
But chronic hepatitis remains a headache for local health authorities, as popular activities like skincare and foot massage also leave room for the virus to spread in the event of a cut.
National research shows there are about 800,000 to 1 million carriers of hepatitis B and 120,000 people infected with hepatitis C in Shanghai. About 200,000 of these people could develop cases of chronic hepatitis.
Shanghai started to introduce hepatitis B vaccinations in the 1980s and included them in the standard vaccination network in 2002. That was broadened to include all people below 18 and others considered vulnerable, such as college freshmen and clinical medical staff, in 2008.
The service was further promoted to all residents over 18 years old last year. Any registered resident can receive the free shots.
Shanghai has a high hepatitis vaccination rate covering over 99 percent of local children, ranking among the best in the nation.
The incidence of acute hepatitis in the city dropped by more than 81 percent in the past decade and reached the lowest level in history, thanks to effective disease-prevention and control systems, said the Shanghai Health Bureau.
The huge decrease is credited to people's increasing awareness of the traditional infection channels of the blood-transmitted disease, such as skin cuts and use of injection needles.
But chronic hepatitis remains a headache for local health authorities, as popular activities like skincare and foot massage also leave room for the virus to spread in the event of a cut.
National research shows there are about 800,000 to 1 million carriers of hepatitis B and 120,000 people infected with hepatitis C in Shanghai. About 200,000 of these people could develop cases of chronic hepatitis.
Shanghai started to introduce hepatitis B vaccinations in the 1980s and included them in the standard vaccination network in 2002. That was broadened to include all people below 18 and others considered vulnerable, such as college freshmen and clinical medical staff, in 2008.
The service was further promoted to all residents over 18 years old last year. Any registered resident can receive the free shots.
Shanghai has a high hepatitis vaccination rate covering over 99 percent of local children, ranking among the best in the nation.
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