Rehman Syed Tabish, Rehman Hareem, Abid Shahab
Department of Medicine, The Aga Khan University, Karachi 74800, Pakistan.
World J Hepatol. 2021 Jul 27;13(7):781-789. doi: 10.4254/wjh.v13.i7.781.
The coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic has resulted in significant morbidity and mortality since its first case was discovered in December 2019. Since then, multiple countries have witnessed a healthcare system collapse due to the overwhelming demand for COVID-19 care. Drastic measures have been taken globally in order to curb the spread of the virus. However, those measures have led to the disruption of other aspects of healthcare, increasing the burden due to other medical conditions. We have also stepped back in achieving the ambitious goal set in place by World Health Organization to eliminate viral hepatitis as a public threat by 2030. Hepatitis B and C are chronic conditions with a significant worldwide burden, and COVID-19 has resulted in many hepatitis elimination programs slowing or stopping altogether. In this review, we elucidate the impact of the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic on the interventions targeted towards the elimination of hepatitis B virus and hepatitis C virus. Some of the salient features that we have covered in this review include hindrance to screening and diagnostic tests, neonatal vaccinations, the transmission dynamics affecting hepatitis B virus and hepatitis C virus, role of limited awareness, restrictions to treatment accessibility, and disparity in healthcare services. We have highlighted the major issues and provided recommendations in order to tackle those challenges.
自2019年12月发现首例新型冠状病毒肺炎（COVID-19）病例以来，该疫情已导致大量发病和死亡。从那时起，多个国家目睹了医疗系统因对COVID-19护理的巨大需求而崩溃。全球已采取严厉措施以遏制病毒传播。然而，这些措施导致了医疗保健其他方面的中断，增加了其他疾病造成的负担。我们在实现世界卫生组织制定的到2030年消除病毒性肝炎这一公共威胁的宏伟目标方面也有所退步。乙型和丙型肝炎是慢性病，在全球造成重大负担，而COVID-19已导致许多肝炎消除计划放缓或完全停止。在本综述中，我们阐明了当前COVID-19大流行对针对消除乙型肝炎病毒和丙型肝炎病毒的干预措施的影响。我们在本综述中涵盖的一些显著特征包括对筛查和诊断测试的阻碍、新生儿疫苗接种、影响乙型肝炎病毒和丙型肝炎病毒的传播动态、认识有限的作用、治疗可及性的限制以及医疗服务的差异。我们突出了主要问题并提出了应对这些挑战的建议。
