Thursday, July 28 is World Hepatitis Day. Ahead of that day, Dr. Dennis Duriex with Covenant Health spoke about what hepatitis is and why it’s important people are educated about it.
“Hepatitis is really, all that means is it’s an inflammation of the liver,” Dr. Duriex said.
Dr. Duriex is an infectious disease doctor for Covenant. He said there are different kinds of hepatitis.
“The more common ones here in the [United] States are A, B, C, and D, sometimes you see E also, but it’s not very common in the United States,” Dr. Duriex said.
“[Hepatitis] B and C have been associated with liver cancer, and so it’s important to be aware of that fact and know that certain individuals at risk for hepatitis B should be screened,” he said. “People who are at risk for hepatitis C as well, should be screened every 6 months.”
With World Hepatitis Day being on Thursday, July 28 this year, Dr. Duriex said it’s an important day, to help educate people on hepatitis.
“It creates and awareness of hepatitis b and what needs to be done, because of it’s heavy impact worldwide, but also in the United States, because it is a leading cause of morbidity and mortality here in the [United] States,” he said.
