NEW DELHI: Hospitals across the city are witnessing a disturbing rise in cases of Hepatitis A, with young children and adults suffering from severe liver damage—some as young as two years old.
Doctors are sounding the alarm as this surge in infections, paired with unprecedented liver failures, signals a potential public health catastrophe.
“We are seeing a huge uptick in the Hepatitis A cases where many patients suffered acute liver failures eventually requiring transplants. The most affected are the young adults,” said Dr Shalimar, Professor, Department of Gastroenterology, AIIMS.
The doctors are calling it an “outbreak” since nearly 50 per cent of patients reporting liver issues test positive for Hepatitis A.
“Our microbiology department found 70 of 145 samples testing positive for Hepatitis A between October and November. The situation has escalated so rapidly that in just one week, four patients required liver transplants due to acute liver damage—a number typically we see over a year,” Dr Ushast Dhir, Director of the Liver Transplant Department, Sir Ganga Ram Hospital, said.
“The cases are not only more frequent, but also more severe. In the last month alone, we’ve lost three patients to complications from Hepatitis A,” he added.
Dr Sharad Malhotra, Head of Gastroenterology, at Aakash Healthcare, noted a three-fold rise in jaundice cases compared to the previous year, with a noticeable shift in symptom patterns. “Many patients presented with worsening symptoms including internal bleeding and fainting,” he added.
For the unversed, Hepatitis A is a highly contagious liver infection caused by the hepatitis A virus (HAV) having a mortality rate of nearly 50 per cent.
Experts are pointing to severe water contamination, particularly following the monsoon season, as a likely source of the outbreak. “We suspect that the water supply has been compromised, possibly due to sewage contamination,” said Dr Malhotra.
Dr Dhir has called the situation a “civic failure”.
“This is a civic failure as Hepatitis A since it happens when water gets contaminated after mixing with sewage,” he stated.
Dr Aniket Sirohi, epidemiologist at MCD said the civic body is yet to receive inputs from the state’s health surveillance unit to find the cause behind the spurt in cases.
“Hospitals don’t report to us directly. The source of contamination that may have led to the situation can only be found after we receive inputs from the surveillance body,” he stated.
No response was received from Delhi’s State Surveillance Unit.