World Hepatitis Day I New guidelines to manage viral hepatitis

The Health Department has developed national guidelines for the management of viral hepatitis as part of efforts to reduce mortality. Viral hepatitis is the second leading infectious cause of death globally, with over two-thousand deaths in South Africa. Hepatitis is called a silent infection because most people do not have any symptoms when they are first infected. Symptoms may include fever, malaise, loss of appetite, diarrhoea, nausea, abdominal discomfort and dark-coloured urine, among others.