Day 2 of UGHANMSA Health Week Celebration: SEMINAR ON HEPATITIS 'B' INFECTION AND 'REP YOUR SCHOOL'

A seminar was held as part of the 38th students' health week celebration with a theme chosen to enlighten graduate nurses, midwives and students on the infectious Hepatitis-B which is caused by a virus. The speaker for the seminar was a Mr. Charles Adjei Ampong, a lecturer from the Community Health Department at the School of Nursing and Midwifery, University of Ghana, Legon. He is the CEO of Hepatitis Alliance of Ghana and very passionate about the prevention of hepatitis-B, hence a researcher in the field of hepatitis-B with series of publications.

 

MR. CHARLES ADJEI AMPONG GIVING AN INTRODUCTION ON HEPATITIS-B INFECTION

 

Hepatitis-B, as said by the speaker is an infectious and viral disease can be transmitted through vaginal fluids, semen and blood. He emphatically pointed out that sweat is not a mode for transmission for the infection since it has been mistaken by most health workers. The commonest mode of transmission is mother to child transmission. 90% of children under 5 are at a higher risk of getting the infection from their mothers. Further, hepatitis-B could be Acute or Chronic. If a patient is tested positive for  Hepatitis-B and fails to build immunity for a period of 6 months, it can progress to a chronic infection. He emphasized on a fact that chronic hepatitis-B, can remain that way without any progression in some clients but can also progress in some individuals to cause liver cirrhosis, that is dangerious to the liver, hepatocellular carcinoma or End stage liver Disease. The audience were made to understand that many individuals walk around without knowing their status which is very detrimental since it can lead to death if it should progress.̋

 

 

According to the speaker, Hepatitis-B  is not that scary as it is perceived and therefore efforts should be made to test and know our status. He mentioned hepatitis-B profile that is the serological marker which  is the simple test done to look out for the virus and other indicators in your blood. This test quickly let you know if you are replicative or not and can tell if you have antibodies against the virus. If you are not reactive it is better to get vaccinated with all the 3 shots within a 6 month schedule with the hepatitis B vaccine in order to build an immunity. A positive envelope antigen test (HBeAg) as part of the hepatitis B profile  shows that you are highly infectious and the virus are fast multiplying and attention is needed for such individuals to prevent liver damage. Though there are several drugs for individuals with hepatitis-B, Tenofovir is more effective in its treatment.

 

A SECTION OF AUDIENCE SEATED AT THE SEMINAR

 

He concluded by saying that, individuals who took just a shot of the vaccine and did not take the last two should recheck their status and restart the whole process again but those who took their second shot and forgot the last one should take it immediately they remember. However, those who took all the 3 shot should also check their hepatitis titre. Hepatitis-B titre is the amount of immunity built by the body system. It should be or above 10 mIU/ml, any figure below 10 warrant a booster dose. It was also emphasized and recommended that persons get tested, vaccinated or seek early management.     

 

A SECTION OF AUDIENCE SEATED AT THE SEMINAR

 

A SECTION SONM STUDENTS IN THEIR OLD SCHOOL CONSTUMES

 

STUDENTS IN THEIR OLD SCHOOL CONSTUMES

 

STUDENTS IN THEIR OLD SCHOOL CONSTUMES

 

SONM STUDENTS IN THEIR OLD SCHOOL CONSTUMES