Boost to war on virus as cost of test drops

Dr Erick Ruto vaccinates Dr Eunice Siria against Hepatitis B during the launch of Hepatitis B Vaccination Campaign held at Uasin Gishu District Hospital on July 22, 2014. Hepatitis B is transmitted from mother to child. PHOTO | JARED NYATAYA | NATION MEDIA GROUP

What you need to know:

  • A high Hepatitis B viral load in a patient means there are increased risks of liver damage. In such a case, the virus will be replicating rapidly in the liver.
  • Dr Ahmed Kalebi, a consultant pathologist at Lancet laboratories, said regular monitoring of the hepatitis B during treatment is necessary to check whether the virus is responding well to anti-viral treatment or not.

It will now cost Sh2,000 less to be tested for the hepatitis B virus, which is responsible for many liver cancers and failures.

The test used to cost between Sh10,000 and Sh14,000, and only showed the presence of the virus in the body, and not its level. The new test can also show the viral load.

A high Hepatitis B viral load in a patient means there are increased risks of liver damage. In such a case, the virus will be replicating rapidly in the liver.

The new test comes after research by scholars from the Jomo Kenyatta University of Agriculture and Technology, Lancet laboratories and the Kenya Medical Research Institute.

They devised the cheaper way of monitoring the virus.

They monitored 170 patients with chronic hepatitis B at Lancet laboratories in Nairobi. The experts used a test that monitors protein on the surface of the virus. They also used another test that monitors the genetic material of the virus.

Both tests were found to give results that were similar. It was found that the less expensive test is also effective in monitoring viral loads.

Hepatitis B is transmitted from mother to child. It can also be spread through the exchange of bodily fluids such as semen and blood from an infected person.

“Given the prevalence of HBV, particularly in developing countries, cheaper tests that can be used to monitor viral replication and response to anti-viral therapy would make chronic hepatitis B management more practical,” said Ms Faith Mathai, one of the researchers from the Jomo Kenyatta university.

Dr Ahmed Kalebi, a consultant pathologist at Lancet laboratories, said regular monitoring of the hepatitis B during treatment is necessary to check whether the virus is responding well to anti-viral treatment or not.

He told the Nation: “It is good news for Kenyans with hepatitis B that treatment will be less costly than before. Previously, it was thought that only the DNA test could do the job but its high cost was prohibitive to many Kenyans,” he said.

Dr Musa Otieno Ngayo from the Centre for Microbiology Research, Kenya Medical Research Institute, who participated in the study, said: “In developing countries where the hepatitis B virus is endemic, robust, cheaper and easy-to-perform markers are essential in assessing the impact of chronic HBV infection on liver diseases and for effective disease management.”