Organ damage by pork? Consumers are increasingly suffering from viral liver inflammation

Hepatitis: More and more cases of hepatitis E.

Hackepeter, Mettbrötchen or raw sausages are certainly not for everyone. But with many Germans, raw meat is always on the menu. This has consequences: The consumption of raw or unperforated pork is the most common cause of hepatitis E infections. In Saxony-Anhalt, the number of such diseases has doubled.

Most common cause of hepatitis E infections

According to the European Food Safety Authority (EFSA), the consumption of raw or uncooked pork and liver is the leading cause of hepatitis E infection in the EU. As the agency reported last year, more than 21,000 hepatitis E cases have been reported in humans in the decade before, with a 10-fold increase over that period. Increasing numbers of hepatitis E were also registered in Germany. Thus, the number of registered infections in Saxony-Anhalt has more than doubled within one year.

The number of diagnosed liver inflammations caused by hepatitis E virus in Saxony-Anhalt has increased enormously. The viruses are mainly transmitted via poorly cooked, infected pork and game. (Image: contrastwerkstatt / fotolia.com)

Number of registered liver inflammations has increased significantly

According to a report by the news agency dpa, the number of liver infections diagnosed by hepatitis E virus in Saxony-Anhalt has increased significantly.

According to the World Consumer Protection Office, the State Office for Consumer Protection announced that 193 cases were reported last year. That was 100 more than in 2016.

The number of registered infections more than doubled within one year. According to the information, the development can be attributed, at least in part, to the fact that doctors are more aware of this type of hepatitis infection and are better able to recognize it.

Viruses are usually transmitted via pork

In this country too hepatitis E is mainly transmitted via insufficiently cooked, infected pork and game.

Only in isolated cases is it imported as a motion sickness. Older people are particularly affected according to the reporting statistics.

As reported by the German Press Agency, the State Office for Consumer Protection is currently conducting a study to detect further risk factors for hepatitis E infections. The agency expects that there will be first results in early 2019.

Patients often do not notice anything about their condition

The problem with the disease is - as with hepatitis A - that patients often know nothing about their liver inflammation.

"Most people who contract hepatitis E have little or no symptoms," EFSA wrote in a statement.

Sometimes it comes only after weeks to flu-like symptoms such as fever, nausea and vomiting or even dark urine.

Later, jaundice and upper abdominal pain are often added, the former not occurring in all patients.

In most cases, the disease heals after several days or weeks.

"However, in some cases, especially in patients with liver damage or a weak immune system, liver failure - potentially fatal - may occur," states the EFSA statement.

Hepatitis B, C and D can also cause severe liver damage, which can also lead to death. (Ad)