
Viral hepatitis: A silent epidemic killing more people than HIV, malaria or TB - pseudolus
https://www.nature.com/articles/d41586-018-07592-7
======
subcosmos
Viruses that cause hepatitis actually embed themselves WITHIN LDL Particles
(the "bad" cholesterol) to transport around the body. In doing so, they hide
from the immune system.

APOE it turns out, the Alzheimer's gene, ALSO predicts your risk for liver
cancer ...... because this is the gene that the virus binds to while
assembling into the particle. Hepatitis virus infections are strongly
associated with heart disease!

[https://medium.com/@InfinoMe/cholesterol-have-we-shot-the-
me...](https://medium.com/@InfinoMe/cholesterol-have-we-shot-the-
messenger-a3f5dfeba09)

~~~
joshuamcginnis
FYI, 23andme provides an Late-Onset Alzheimer's Disease report[1] based via
the ε4 variant but does not test for a person's full APOE genotype.

[1]
[https://you.23andme.com/reports/ghr.alzheimers/](https://you.23andme.com/reports/ghr.alzheimers/)

~~~
copperx
Now I'm scared; 23andme reported that I'm at risk for Late-Onset Alzheimer's.
What lifestyle changes can I make to reduce the risk of liver cancer?

~~~
bohm
take a daily herpes antiviral [https://www.healthline.com/health-
news/evidence-of-link-betw...](https://www.healthline.com/health-
news/evidence-of-link-between-herpes-and-dementia) and reduce your alzheimer's
risk by 90%

~~~
mirimir
Hey, I've been taking acyclovir for decades. Maybe I'll luck out. But at
least, I avoid the excruciating sores.

~~~
copperx
Are you taking acyclovir solely for Alzheimer's prevention?

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peterwwillis
Weird notes on HBV:

\- More contagious than HCV or HIV, apparently can even be spread via saliva.
Potential infections can happen from uncleaned tattoo guns, razors used for
shaves, unchanged soaking water/bowls and cuticle scissors at nail salons,
unwashed hotel sheets/towels/robes, etc

\- 5-10% of immunized people don't develop enough antibodies to protect
against infection

\- Remains contagious from 7 days to a month outside the body

\- Can be killed by boiling, but 1:9 bleach solution requires up to 20 minutes
soaking (hydrogen peroxide is quicker)

~~~
norwish
> can even be spread via saliva.

While possible, is extremely unlikely. For it to be spread by saliva a) the
saliva of the infected person would have to contain blood (e.g. bleeding gums)
b) come into contact with an open wound in the other person (also has a cut or
cold sore etc)

~~~
dingdingdang
Not extremely unlikely given that most saliva swapping likely goes on between
partners who kiss on a daily basis and hence are extremely likely to have at
least one interaction where both parties have a combination of cuts, bleeding
gums, cold sores or similar.

~~~
norwish
It's complicated. The level of infectiousness to others varies depending on
the state of the virus in the person who carries it. People with a chronic
infection (long term) typically have low level infectivity. So it would be a
very unlikely combination of factors coming together for transmission to occur
that way.

~~~
peterwwillis
It's still 50x-100x more infectious than HIV, because of the very high
concentrations of it in bodily fluids. This combined with its very long lived
potency out of the body makes for much easier infection.

In theory, you could drink from a glass and leave the virus in saliva on the
rim. If nobody cleans the glass, and five days later someone with bleeding
gums drinks out of it, it's still infectious.

------
thex10
I'm glad awareness is increasing. These asymptomatic viruses are so scary and
probably make it trickier to diagnose and help people, let alone at scale.

I wasn't diagnosed with Hep C until my mid-20s even though I was likely born
with it - it was just sheer luck I found it before living a few more decades
until surprise liver failure. I hate to think of the many who might be in a
similar circumstance.

------
norwish
I'm a white, western male in my late 30's with a chronic Hep B infection,
picked up as a child living in Africa. The only difference it's made in my
life is having to have some awkward conversations with prospective intimate
partners, having to get regular blood checks (every 6-12mths), and not being
able to join the military.

The good news with Hep B is a) there is a very effective vaccine against it b)
if you pick it up as an adult you have a good chance of getting rid of it. The
bad news is there is no cure for chronic infections and the risk of liver
disease is greatly increased. As the article mentioned, in recent years there
have been breakthroughs in treatment of Hep C leading to a cure so I'm hopeful
there will be a cure for Hep B in my lifetime.

------
jandrese
What happened in Canada? You see charts like this with sub-Saharan Africa and
Mongolia are lit up and that's no surprise, but then Canada shows up and you
wonder what happened. They scored worse than the US at a healthcare metric!
They scored worse than _Mexico_.

Is this one of those things where the Indigenous population has a real problem
that is skewing the numbers for the entire country or did the government not
believe in the vaccine for some reason?

~~~
UI_at_80x24
I don't know _what_ is going on but I have a guess.

I live in Canada. We see these 'Hepatitis vaccine' posters at every doctors
office/clinc. They are all related to "going on vacation somewhere warm".

So the implication is "Caribbean vacation = hepatitis".

There were even TV commercials that tried to show "unexpected places you could
get hepatitis from", from the ice-cube, from the sand on the beach (showing a
cut foot), from a nail salon, etc. Just to try and raise awareness.

~~~
pseudolus
Hepatitis rates among First Nations, Metis and Inuit are apparently
significantly higher than hepatitis rates among other Canadians.

~~~
UI_at_80x24
That does sound plausible.

Free health care? Sure! Drinkable water? Fuck no!

The only good thing you can say about Canadas treatment of it's First Nations
is that we haven't recently given them small-pox filled blankets.*

*that has been caught on film and verified by 300 independent labs.

~~~
pseudolus
A not insignificant contributor to the higher levels of hepatitis is
intravenous drug use. You could also depress yourself to no end if you
reviewed the levels of suicide amongst indigenous Canadians. It's genuinely
shocking.

[https://www.suicideinfo.ca/resource/indigenous-suicide-
preve...](https://www.suicideinfo.ca/resource/indigenous-suicide-prevention/)

------
3KQgt0Cl
WTF. I am a hepatitis B and Hepatitis D chronic active patient.

There is a plethora of medication for hepatitis B treatment and cure. There is
a cure for Hepatitis C as well.

But there is no cure for Hepatitis Delta yet. Even Pegylated Interferon works
on about 20% of the patients and that's with dual therapy alongside
Telbivudine. Of course after treatment you relapse.

[http://replicor.com/science/hepatitis-d/](http://replicor.com/science/hepatitis-d/)
[http://replicor.com/science/hepatitis-b/](http://replicor.com/science/hepatitis-b/)
[http://replicor.com/patients/](http://replicor.com/patients/)
[http://replicor.com/pipeline/](http://replicor.com/pipeline/)

------
exabrial
:( literally going through this right now with my mother

------
3KQgt0Cl
O am an active chronic hepatitis B and hepatitis D patient (27 years old).

I was checking this the other day:
[http://replicor.com/](http://replicor.com/)

Based in Canada BTW.

------
Animats
Incidentally, if you live in SF, it's worth getting the vaccines for hepatitis
A and B as an adult.

~~~
thorin1
If you are living anywhere it's worth getting vaccines for hepatitis A and B.

~~~
HarryHirsch
Hep A is a waterborne disease. If you live somewhere with proper sanitation
and don't have contact with sewage you are at low risk and the funds for the
vaccine are better directed elsewhere.

~~~
mlindner
San Francisco residents have extra contact with sewage than the normal person
because the feces and urine that are everywhere.

~~~
black-tea
Why is there faeces and urine everywhere?

~~~
mifreewil
Large homeless population.

~~~
loeg
_and_ a lack of public toilets. People are people — we generally would rather
go to the bathroom in private if it's an option. Homeless people don't shit in
the street because it's their first choice.

~~~
anonuser123456
You can thank Richard Stallman and the toilet communism brigade.

[https://stallman.org/pay-toilets.html](https://stallman.org/pay-toilets.html)

~~~
loeg
Can I? How much do you think someone who shits in the street today is willing
or can afford to pay for private toilet infrastructure? I disagree with RMS
about a lot of things, but I don't see how this would be solved without public
spending.

------
asdkhadsj
Tangent: The headline brings up an interesting thought.. I wonder what anti-
vaxx people will do when a new scary virus emerges. Something actively and
aggressively flying through the population.

So much of the anti-vaxx mindset is supported by herd immunity. But when a
scenario finally happens where herd immunity is compromised.. It'll be
interesting to see how the vaccination discussion plays out.

 _edit_ : The downvotes must indicate that this is too off-topic, so sorry for
the post :). I just had the thought and wanted to see your opinions on it.
Appreciated.

~~~
ghostbrainalpha
Maybe this is too off topic for here but I have always wondered why people are
so angry at Anti-Vaxx people?

Yes... the compromise our Herd Immunity, but don't they also serve as a
"Canary in The Coal Mine", risking their own health so that the human genome
can keep battling with and evolving natural defenses against disease?

~~~
stonecraftwolf
Because they aren’t the canaries at all. Instead they volunteer their kids
(and the kids who interact with their kids) as the canaries.

~~~
asdkhadsj
Furthermore, they risk infecting others who, through no fault of their own,
_rely_ on herd immunity. Such as those who due to allergies cannot take a
certain vaccination, or who did take it but it was ineffective. Herd immunity
protects more than just the ignorant.

