Young adults, especially men aged between 19 and 39, are the main target of contamination in the epidemic recorded in Curitiba
The hepatitis A epidemic in Curitiba is transmitted from person to person, as identified by the Epidemiological Center of the Municipal Health Department (SMS). Transmission occurs mainly through unprotected sexual intercourse, that is, transmission occurs through sharing objects, contaminated hands or anal/oral sexual intercourse between a person infected with the hepatitis A virus and another healthy person. Contamination occurs through contact of feces with the mouth.
255 cases and five deaths from hepatitis A were confirmed in Curitiba from January to May 24, 2024. One person required a liver transplant due to the disease.
“People who have been confirmed to have hepatitis A must take special care not to transmit the virus to their contacts. Even after recovering from the disease, the person continues to shed the virus in the stool for up to five months, which strengthens the need for hygienic care”, explains the director of the SMS Epidemiological Centre, Alcides Oliveira.
Hepatitis A is a benign disease, treatable in most cases, especially when it affects children. However, there is a tendency for the condition to worsen when patients are adults, leading to hospital admissions and even death.
Young adults who were not immunized against the disease in childhood, especially men aged between 19 and 39, are the main target of contamination in the epidemic recorded in Curitiba.
The hepatitis A vaccine has been available in SUS since 2014 for children up to five years of age, which has reduced the incidence of the disease in this population. Previously, contaminations were more linked to problems related to poor hygiene and the consumption of contaminated food and water, but this is currently not the case in Curitiba.
According to the SMS doctor, the virus found a vulnerable population, who did not receive the vaccine in childhood and was not infected as a child, since immunity against hepatitis A is acquired by infection with the virus or from the vaccine.
Numbers
Of the 255 hepatitis A cases confirmed in Curitiba, 193 were men (76%) and 62 women (24%). Of these, 120 were hospitalized (47%) and four required intensive care in the ICU. A 46-year-old man underwent a liver transplant due to acute hepatitis A, and five deaths have been confirmed from the disease. There was still a sixth death under investigation, but it was discarded by the Epidemiology Center’s investigation.
Symptoms
Given the number of cases of hepatitis A and the severity of the disease, the SMS has launched an alert to all health services and class councils for the early diagnosis of the disease.
The initial symptoms of hepatitis A are fatigue, malaise, fever and muscle pain. As the days pass, the infected person presents dark urine, yellow eyes and skin (jaundice), clear signs of the disease.
Symptoms appear approximately 15-50 days after infection, associated with fecal-oral contamination, i.e. through contact of feces with the mouth. According to the SMS doctor, attention must be paid to hygiene, both when eating and during sexual intercourse.
Dr. Alcides Oliveira warns that it is important to avoid self-medication, especially in the first symptoms, which can confuse the diagnosis with other diseases.
“Self-medication can make differential diagnosis difficult, as well as compromising the liver, already weakened by hepatitis,” he explains, recommending that the ideal is to contact a health unit or via Central Saúde Já – 3350-9000.
Prevention
Discover the main preventive guidelines:
- Use a condom and clean your hands, genitals, perineum and anal region before and after sexual intercourse.
- Wash your hands (including after using the bathroom, changing diapers and before preparing food);
- Wash foods to be consumed raw with treated, chlorinated or boiled water, leaving them to soak for 30 minutes;
- Cook foods well before consuming them, especially shellfish, seafood and fish;
- Wash dishes, glasses, cutlery and bottles correctly;
- Use the toilets;
- In the case of nurseries, nursery schools, canteens, restaurants and closed institutions, adopt strict hygiene measures, such as disinfecting objects, countertops and floors using 2.5% sodium hypochlorite or bleach.
- Do not get wet or play near ditches, streams, fountains, floods or near where sewage is present;
- Avoid building septic tanks near wells and river sources;
Vaccine
The hepatitis A vaccine is part of the SUS childhood immunization program, applied from 12 months to 5 years of age.
Additionally, the vaccine is available at Reference Centers for Special Immunobiologicals (CRIE), in a 2-dose schedule, with a minimum interval of 6 months, for people over one year of age with the following conditions:
- Chronic liver disease of any etiology, including chronic HBV and/or HCV infection;
- People suffering from coagulopathies, hemoglobinopathies, trisomies, storage diseases or cystic fibrosis (mucoviscidosis);
- People living with HIV;
- People undergoing immunosuppressive therapy or living with an immunosuppressive disease;
- Solid organ transplant candidates, enrolled in transplant programs, or solid organ or hematopoietic stem cell (bone marrow) transplant recipients;
- Donors of solid organs or hematopoietic stem cells (bone marrow) registered in transplant programs.
Source: Terra
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