01:01 PM
Epidemiology experts in the country remain concerned, because despite the worrying alerts they have launched in recent months, it seems that citizens and even the authorities do not appreciate the risks that the country faces due to the hepatitis A outbreak that it is currently facing. .
And so far from 2024 until last June 1, the hepatitis A outbreaks that began to appear since December 2023 have been consolidated in Antioquia, Cauca and Cali. Antioquia has a cumulative total of 916 cases this year, according to figures from the National Institute of Health, above Cauca (325) and Cali (193). 75% of the cases in Antioquia are concentrated in the Aburrá Valley, which has seen an increase of almost 300% in cases compared to the same period in 2023. Medellín, in fact, decreed an epidemiological alert since last April.
It should be remembered that hepatitis A is a viral infection that affects the liver. Once the virus is contracted, there is generally an incubation period of approximately 15 to 50 days. Infected people begin to experience symptoms such as fever, fatigue, loss of appetite, nausea, vomiting, abdominal pain, dark urine, light-colored stools and yellowing of the skin and eyes (jaundice) due to the accumulation of bile fluids in the blood. Not everyone experiences the same thing. The behavior of the disease varies and can be mild and last a few weeks but can also extend for months in its most severe state.
One of the main concerns that health authorities currently face is that the pressure on the health system generated by this epidemic, since the main affected population is the adult population and is generating a much higher rate of hospitalizations than expected, close to 31 % of confirmed cases.
What can be done and is not being done efficiently to control the disease
Hepatitis A is transmitted mainly via the fecal-oral route, or in other words, a person can contract the virus if they consume food or water that has come into contact with the feces of an infected person. This, in addition to being unpleasant, would seem difficult to happen, but the health authorities have drawn attention to the growing population with precarious access to minimum sanitary conditions such as drinking water, aqueduct and properly handled food (migrants, population in extreme povertyfor example) this type of contagion is increasingly feasible.
Other types of infections occur when a caregiver comes into contact with someone infected, through consumption of raw or undercooked shellfish from contaminated water and poor hygiene practices such as washing hands after going to the bathroom. And although once the virus takes on epidemic proportions, a large part of the general population is exposed, there are groups particularly at risk such as people who travel to areas with a high prevalence of Hepatitis A; communities with low access to sanitation; children in daycare; people who have sexual practices that involve direct or indirect oral-anal contact; and recreational drug users, especially those who share injection equipment.
Among the prevention measures that the Ministry of Health in Medellín requested for citizens is washing their hands with soap and water after using the bathroom, and whenever they are going to prepare or handle food; They also highlighted that vaccination against hepatitis A is essential and is recommended for people at risk and for the general population in endemic areas. According to the National Institute of Health and the WHO, the vaccination strategy has a favorable impact on the control of outbreaks, as explained by the Secretary of Health of Medellín, Natalia López Delgado.
The Mayor’s Office committed to improving sanitation conditions and access to drinking water as a measure to eradicate the outbreak and also asked citizens to be much more cautious when consuming food on the street and understand that being in an area of high prevalence of hepatitis A, it is necessary to redouble care because there may be a risk that this street food is not handled properly and contracting this virus due to its consumption, which can even trigger liver cancer.
