28 July is the birthday of Nobel-prize winning scientist Dr Baruch Blumberg, who discovered hepatitis B virus (HBV) and developed a diagnostic test and vaccine for the virus hence the date being used as World Hepatitis Day.
Your liver silently performs over 500 vital functions every single day to keep you alive.
Unfortunately viral hepatitis infection is also silent, with symptoms only appearing once the disease has advanced. Although there are many different types of hepatitis viruses, hepatitis B and C are the most concerning and cause nearly 8000 new infections every day, which are often undetected resulting in over one million hepatitis-related deaths every single year – and one new chronic infection every ten seconds.
Look after your liver – it’s fundamental to human health.