Patna, Feb. 19: Bihar reports the highest incidents of chronic hepatitis-B in the country and awareness is the key to stop the disease from spreading among children.

The facts were shared by paediatric hepatologist Neelam Mohan of Medanta Hospital, Gurgaon, during a news meet here today. Mohan also attended a clinic dealing with liver problems at Jagdish Memorial Hospital, where many patients were counselled.

Mohan justified her facts with figures by saying that the average incidents of the disease are three to four per cent in the country, while it is over 5 per cent in Bihar. She said the state government should provide free hepatitis-B vaccination to children across Bihar because the service is at present available only in and around the capital.

“Since hepatitis-B vaccines are very expensive, not many can afford it in a poor state like Bihar. If the government takes the responsibility, it will help save many precious lives,” said Mohan, who heads the paediatric gastroenterology, hepatology and liver transplantation unit at Medanta.

She added: “In Bihar, the common disorders related to liver among children are hepatitis-A and E, which is a fallout of contaminated food and water, chronic hepatitis-B infections and portal hypertension because of block in vein supplying blood to the liver.”

According to Mohan, another common liver disease among children in the state is extra hepatic portal vein obstruction, a condition where the vein supplying blood to the liver gets choked. “This is a result of infections in the umbilical cord in newborns, who are born at home or delivered by untrained midwives,” she said.