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Letters •
March 7 2004 |
Valerie Borg
Labour Candidate
Valletta
With reference to Dr H Messina Ferrante’s letter ‘The danger of a kiss,’ (MaltaToday 29 Feb) which must have alarmed the people needlessly, I would like to state the following.
If what Dr Messina Ferrante claimed was true, then the majority of the Maltese carry the virus. In actual fact nobody has any proof that Hepatitis C is spread through kissing.
A person can become infected with Hepatitis C through the use of drugs when using the same syringe; if one designs a tatoo with apparatus that is not sterilised; when one chooses to use the same toothbrush that a person infected with the disease does and through sexual intercourse.
The virus, which was discovered in 1889, can be stabilised once diagnosed if one avoids drinking alcohol, eliminates the use of drugs from one’s life, eats nutritious food and avoids junk food.
A regular check up with the doctor is a must and people infected with the disease must be injected against more serious diseases such as Hepatitis A and B, and which will prevent the sufferer from further damaging their liver.
There are many ex-drug addicts in Malta who suffer from Hepatitis C, but it is controlled through regular drug tests and they lead full and happy lives.
Those infected with the virus are prone to be constantly tired, have an unusual lack of appetite, suffer pain in their joints, have a yellowish colour of eye and skin and some parts of their body get easily irritated.
If the virus is not strong, it can vanish without a trace but most of the time, people infected with Hepatitis C live the rest of their ‘normal’ lives with the virus.
Hepatitis C can only be dangerous to the victim of one persists in damaging the liver through excessive drug use and binge drinking.
Researchers are doing their best to cure sufferers of Hepatitis C and in a few years time a cure may be found. Note that not all sufferers carry symptoms of Hepatitis C and some of them have none of the symptoms associated with the virus.
I urge the good Dr H Messina Ferrante to get his facts straight before alarming quite a large number of Hepatitis C sufferers in Malta unnecessarily.
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