Latest / Kvetch & Release / World Hepatitis Day

Transcript

World Hepatitis Day · Kvetch & Release

• 0:00
  Listen. Coming up on the twenty sixth of July. That's just in a
• 0:03
  couple days. On Friday, there will be a Hepatitis SEE and Sexual Health
• 0:09
  Fare. It's being put on by the Windsor Essex Community Health Center and I
• 0:14
  have joining me in studio right now, the director of Clinical Practice with the
• 0:20
  Windsor SX Community Health Center, Amy Viser Amy. How you doing good?
• 0:24
  I pronounce that right? Yes, you did good? Okay. We also
• 0:27
  have the Program manager of Infectious Disease Prevention, Raisin dB. How you doing.
• 0:33
  I'm good? How are you very good? I'm glad to have you
• 0:35
  both here. It's been a year. It's been a year since we did
• 0:38
  this. We had this conversation a year ago. It's an important conversation that
• 0:42
  needs to be had about hepatitis and the various types of it. Raisin,
• 0:46
  let's bring your voice in here first. What is hepatitis? So hepatitis in
• 0:51
  a nutshell, it's an infection of deliver It basically can spread from person to
• 0:56
  person, and that is why we want to raise awareness in our community.
• 1:00
  What is like the worst case scenario that could happen as a result of it
• 1:03
  in your lever or to your person, it'll damage the organ and it eventually
• 1:07
  to other complications in the body and worse than that is basically how it spreads
• 1:12
  to one person to another, and we want to basically contain the spread and
• 1:18
  make sure that proper treatment is being provided to our community. How does it
• 1:22
  spread, Well, there's different types of ways of getting spread. So if
• 1:25
  we're talking about hepatitis A, it is basically spread from contact with feces and
• 1:32
  ingesting the product itself. Hepatitis B is usually spread from sharing needles and sexual
• 1:40
  practices that don't align with infection control practices. And then we have hepatitis C
• 1:46
  that can spread from different ways, but usually from sharing of contaminated equipment like
• 1:53
  needles. And what are the differences between like hepatitis A, B, and
• 1:59
  C. I mean, we I understan and they are com communicably different in
• 2:01
  terms of how they spread. But like what makes them different, It's just
• 2:04
  the organism that gets identified from different types of hepatitis. But basically it's the
• 2:09
  signs and symptoms that we look for and the different diagnosis that comes with that
• 2:14
  and the treatment that gets involved in the different types of infection that is involved
• 2:17
  with the different diagnosis. But what we basically do from a public health perspective.
• 2:23
  We get the diseases of public health significance reported to us, like hepatitis,
• 2:28
  and we do case in contact management just to make sure that the case
• 2:30
  or the individual who is infected with the diagnosis is treated according to protocols and
• 2:38
  to treatment guidelines, and we make sure if there are any contacts involved,
• 2:42
  we navigate the system to make sure we help them navigate the system to make
• 2:46
  sure that they get the proper treatment that is involved. Does hepatitis evolve at
• 2:51
  all? Like? Is it pretty well just a B and C that we
• 2:53
  know about right now, or is it like COVID where we ended up with
• 2:57
  variants and ended up like a omicron stuff kind of thing, like how does
• 3:00
  how does this work? Well? There is D and E as well,
• 3:04
  but the the focus and correct me if I'm wrong, Amy, of this,
• 3:07
  Uh, this event that's happening on Friday is hepatitis C because it does
• 3:13
  align with sexual health practice as a swall. So Amy, if you want
• 3:16
  to give more information about that portion that about about the event on Friday and
• 3:23
  how it aligns with hepatitis and from your end, sure, Yeah, So
• 3:25
  for hepatitis A and B. A lot of people probably know. We have
• 3:30
  vaccines for these, a common vaccine that people might know as twin res.
• 3:35
  So hepatitis C is a different whole, other, different animal when we're looking
• 3:40
  at UH infection control. So there is no vaccine for hepatitis C, but
• 3:46
  there is a cure. The reason why there's no vaccine is because there's a
• 3:51
  lot of different mutations or variants of the virus itself. So we use direct
• 3:57
  acting anti virals to treat it instead of providing the vaccine. So if someone
• 4:02
  does contract hepatitis C, we can treat it in as little as eight to
• 4:08
  twelve weeks with these direct acting antivirals the oral medication and it's little to no
• 4:14
  side effects. And when you say treat it like you can, you can
• 4:16
  cure it. Cure it. Yes. So last year our team, so
• 4:20
  we have a team with the Windsor six Community Health Center. It's our Hepatitis
• 4:24
  C Treatment and Support team. We're one of twenty teams that was developed by
• 4:30
  Ontario Health. We have cross Ontario to support micro elimination of hepatitis C and
• 4:36
  the World Health Organization would like some eighty percent of elimination by twenty thirty.
• 4:44
  So that's why these teams were created. Micro elimination strategy is basically we target
• 4:50
  specific geographic areas, subpopulations and age cohorts. So what's the prevalence of this
• 4:59
  like in the community? I guess also connected to that, like could you
• 5:01
  potentially have hepatitis A, B or C without knowing that you have it?
• 5:06
  You can? Yeah, So the thing with hepatitis, it's like the sleeper
• 5:11
  virus that not a lot of people know they have it because there's little to
• 5:15
  no symptoms. Most people present is asymptomatic until they're the disease has progressed to
• 5:21
  a longer stage and usually it's coupled with like liver cirrhosis or another compliment onto
• 5:30
  that liver infection. Okay, so you could have it and not know about
• 5:33
  it, and so what's the prevalence like then here in our community? So
• 5:36
  our team last year we tested five hundred and seventy individuals and we returned to
• 5:44
  fifteen percent positivity rate. So our team serves the Windsor, Essex and Chatham
• 5:48
  Kent community and we're just one of the teams doing this in this area.
• 5:54
  There's addiction to support doctors that do this as well. Some private physicians also
• 6:00
  can treat. Really anyone can treat and test for this, and it's important
• 6:03
  to test your specific populations that are at higher risk, I could imagine.
• 6:11
  So I'm looking here at some of the statistics that you've shared with us,
• 6:15
  and one that really stands out. People who have experienced in correctional systems are
• 6:18
  forty times more likely to have ever had hepatitis. See why is that raison?
• 6:24
  Well, there's different variables involved with that. It's a matter of awareness
• 6:29
  that comes with it, the sharing of equipment that may be utilized by other
• 6:33
  individuals who would have hepatitis. Previously, it's about understanding the risk of your
• 6:42
  environment regardless of where you are. It could happen in correctional facilities, but
• 6:47
  it could also happen at any high risk environment in the community. So it's
• 6:53
  just raising awareness to our community here to ensure that we are aware of our
• 6:59
  individual risks and the risks in our in the media environment. I find it
• 7:04
  staggering that it's estimated that one in three Ontarians are unaware of their infections.
• 7:10
  I mean, that's that seems like it's a big number at thirty three percent,
• 7:13
  Is it like This is the thing though, when it comes to percentages
• 7:15
  and not being knowledgeable about the things that I'm discussing quite frankly, like,
• 7:20
  is thirty three percent a big number? How does that put us in comparison
• 7:24
  to other jurisdictions. Well, it also it goes hand in hand what Amy
• 7:28
  was saying earlier. So different hepatitis B, for example, it can take
• 7:33
  two to six months for someone to become symptomatic without them knowing that they are
• 7:40
  infected. Similar with hepatitis C, it could be from two weeks up to
• 7:44
  six months as well. So the fact that individuals are unaware of the risk
• 7:49
  that they are in and what they are putting others at risk with is the
• 7:55
  alarming point here. And raising awareness about the fact that this is contain ages,
• 8:00
  it could spread from one person to another. Is the mere fact of
• 8:03
  what we want to contain here is contain spread and make sure people are getting
• 8:07
  the proper treatment that they can receive here in Windsor SKX County. Well,
• 8:11
  and it's important, I mean, this is why you know your position as
• 8:13
  program manager infectious disease prevention, You're letting people know, You're getting the word
• 8:18
  out there about this and it's it's something that clearly you care about. I'm
• 8:20
  looking at your land eard right now and it says I love infection prevention.
• 8:24
  I'm pretty sure is what the second word there is, And well, you
• 8:28
  know, it's it's it's the fact that it's individualized. We do client centered
• 8:33
  care, but at the same time, it matters to everyone in our community.
• 8:37
  You know, the case is one individual that would be infected, but
• 8:41
  their contacts are also important to our case in contact management to contain the spread.
• 8:46
  And just raising awareness of the environments that individuals are in, regardless of
• 8:50
  where you are, whether it's high risk or low risk. Of course,
• 8:52
  we want to concentrate on high risk environments, but low risk environments may end
• 8:58
  up high risk and it depending on the severity of infection control practices the individuals
• 9:03
  practice. So just raising awareness for individuals and their communities and their environments.
• 9:09
  Just to be aware of your surroundings. Amy, I want to bring your
• 9:11
  voice in in just a quick second to talk about this healthfare that is going
• 9:15
  to be taking place. But I raised one last question that just came to
• 9:18
  mind and raised Anne, it are people more educated and aware of infectious diseases
• 9:24
  having come out of COVID, and all that we heard for so long was
• 9:26
  about, you know, stopping the spread, doing the case management and contacts
• 9:31
  and trying like, are people at a better place? Does it make your
• 9:33
  job easier? You know, I can tell you that we've built rappor and
• 9:37
  trust with many of our community partners and our individuals and our community partners as
• 9:43
  individuals in the community. So I think one thing that does stand out is
• 9:48
  that people in the community are more aware of the resources that the health unit
• 9:54
  provides, and that comes with education. So we encourage individuals if you have
• 9:58
  any question, regardless of how intense the question is or how simple it may
• 10:05
  seem, We're here to answer those questions. We encourage individuals to ask questions
• 10:09
  regardless of what level of education. If someone has to encourage the awareness that
• 10:15
  we're trying to get at today, there are no dumb questions when it comes
• 10:18
  to your health and absolutely practices and listen. Maybe most people don't go to
• 10:24
  school for the things that you guys go to school for and don't have this
• 10:26
  knowledge base, and there's nothing wrong with calling and asking and showing up at
• 10:31
  this event again July twenty sixth at the h four that's formerly Waterworld at four
• 10:35
  hundred wine Dot Street West from ten to three is the Hepatitis C and Sexual
• 10:39
  Health Fare and Amy. I wonder what can people expect if they come out,
• 10:43
  So people can expect to First of all, I just want to say
• 10:48
  this is in partnership with our community partners. We couldn't do anything any of
• 10:52
  this without our community partners and their support. So we're definitely our teams hosting
• 10:56
  the event and with raisans at the Windsorsex County Health Unit. Ari Shore's Healthcare
• 11:03
  will also be there with the MMS BUS, Positive Pathways, the City of
• 11:07
  Windsor and H four obviously the location hosts for the event, and Windsor Regional
• 11:11
  Hospital will be there as well, so we'll be providing Hepatitis C and HIV
• 11:18
  screening, STI testing, addiction support, connection, harm reduction support, no
• 11:24
  Locke Stone education and distribution, and sexual health and general health education. And
• 11:28
  I just wanted to like maybe talk a little bit more about the education piece
• 11:33
  because that's our biggest That's why our team was created. It was to provide
• 11:39
  the education that people need because a lot of people are not aware of it.
• 11:43
  And last year our team supported almost four thousand individuals that are at risk
• 11:48
  of this infection between Windsor Essex and Chatham Kent. Our team, our outreach
• 11:54
  team provided testing, education, wellness checks, medication adherents, basic needs support,
• 12:00
  harm reduction supplies and the loxone. Our outreach team does a lot of
• 12:05
  system navigation, so they refer back to our other programs at Windsor six Community
• 12:09
  Health, or we refer to our community partners in Windsor six and Chatham Ken.
• 12:13
  Well. It's really really important work that you're all doing here. And
• 12:18
  I don't know how it is right now in the public education system, but
• 12:20
  I remember when I was in high school, it was usually not a health
• 12:24
  educator who was the one that was teaching you about sex ed quite frankly,
• 12:28
  and if I recall correctly, my sex at education lasted for I think about
• 12:33
  ten minutes until someone in the class, you know, use the wrong term
• 12:37
  for a body part and the gym teacher said, that's it, We're not
• 12:41
  doing it. Everyone outside, go run some laps And it was a ten
• 12:46
  minute. That was my sexual education experience in high school. So it's important
• 12:50
  people can come out and they can learn a lot and they can get this
• 12:52
  testing. I mean it's it must be when you look at those numbers,
• 12:56
  as you said, four thousand that are at risk from here to Chatham.
• 12:58
  That's that's a big number. Yeah. And another number for you. Ontario
• 13:05
  is the highest province with reported hepatitis CE infections, the second at forty percent.
• 13:11
  The second highest province is British Columbia at eighteen percent. So we have
• 13:18
  we do target those subpopulations. Raisian you know, shared some so people that
• 13:22
  inject or snort drugs, people with prison experience is some Indigenous communities, street
• 13:28
  involved, youth and age cohorts, so anyone born between between nineteen forty five
• 13:35
  and nineteen seventy five. Okay, and your service area that you cover,
• 13:39
  it's not just here to chat and kind of it's also a Walpool Island we
• 13:43
  do. Yes, we cover Wallpool Island in partnership with our team in Sarnia
• 13:48
  Lampton. So we both support the team the island as needed and refer to
• 13:54
  one another when we when we can important work that both of you do well,
• 13:58
  the entire team does. I don't want to go at all and just
• 14:01
  suggest that it's just the two of you here on air that are doing it
• 14:03
  again, this Hepatitis C and sexual health fare. It's in recognition of World
• 14:09
  Hepatitis Day that is on July twenty eighth, but this is taking place Friday,
• 14:13
  July twenty sixth from ten am to three pm at the H four which
• 14:18
  is at four hundred Wine Dot Street West formerly water World. Really important,
• 14:24
  really great services that are being offered here from the Windsor Essex County Health Unit
• 14:28
  and from the Windsor Essex Community Health Center. Amy Viser, Director of Clinical
• 14:33
  Practice, Windsor Essex Community Health Center, thank you so much for your time.
• 14:37
  Thank you so much, and I just want to share Hepatitis C can
• 14:41
  be cured. So if you feel at risk of infection, please call us,
• 14:46
  Please connect with us, connect with public health. It can be cured
• 14:50
  and it can be done in as little as eight to twelve weeks. Can
• 14:52
  be cured. Also, big thank you to Raisin d Program Manager Infectious Disease
• 14:58
  Prevention at the way Essex County Health Unit. Thank you so much for your
• 15:01
  time today. Thank you