Vietnam reports high hepatitis infections

HANOI, July 24 (Xinhua) -- Vietnam, with a population of some 95 million, currently has 7.8 million of hepatitis B patients, and 991,000 hepatitis C cases, according to the country's Health Ministry on Monday.

Among the hepatitis B patients, over 51,000 suffer from cirrhosis and over 14,000 others from liver cancer; and among the hepatitis C patients, more than 13,000 suffer from cirrhosis, and nearly 6,000 from liver cancer.

Vietnam, which has a very small number of hepatitis A infections, is promoting vaccination against the disease and closely following the current outbreak in Laos, said the ministry.

There are mainly five types of hepatitis viruses: A, B, C, D and E, with the most common being A, B, and C. Hepatitis A is commonly contracted after ingesting food or liquid contaminated by feces from a person infected with hepatitis A, but it is not life threatening.