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Youth warned of health risks in tattooing, body piercing

DUBAI — Doctors have urged youngsters to refrain from tattooing and body piercing, as new numbers suggest that approximately 9.2 million individuals are infected with Hepatitis C in the MENA region.

Ahead of World Hepatitis Day that is being marked worldwide today, medical experts have announced a consensus statement on the identification and challenges posed by chronic Hepatitis C in this region.

The statement resulted from a 12-country study in 2010 that included the UAE and was carried out by international scientific agency PharmARC. An expert said that procedures such as tattooing and body piercing could cause infectious diseases of the liver like Hepatitis B and C. Dr Shagufta Zia, Specialist Family Medicine practitioner at Medcare Hospital, said, “I am testing an increasing number of young people who have travelled abroad on holiday and who have decided to have a tattoo done or receive a body piercing whist they are there, only to return with hepatitis for their troubles,” she said.

The UAE recently amended its medical fitness testing rules allowing only certain categories to be tested for Hepatitis B. Both Hepatitis B and C can be contracted from unclean needles that are used in tattoo and piercing parlours abroad as many of these premises are not subject to vetting or licensing requirements that maintain specific standards of hygiene.

Having a tattoo or a piercing requires the skin to be punctured with a needle, she said, and in the case of a large and decorative tattoo containing a number of colours, this requires many injections and often a change of needles. Each piercing brings the needle into contact with blood and only one is needed to spread a disease if that needle has been contaminated by having been already used on an infected person.

“Many of these youngsters who decide to decorate their bodies only seem concerned with the pain of the procedure and how the end result will look, without considering the very real possibility that they could contract a serious blood-borne illness in the bargain,” said Dr Shagufta. The viruses cause inflammation of the liver and can lead to liver cirrhosis (scarring), liver failure and encephalopathy (brain dysfunction) if undetected. The disease often goes unnoticed, as many people with Hepatitis have limited symptoms or no symptoms at all. Some of the signs that are an indication of the condition include jaundice (yellowing of the skin and eyes), a loss of appetite, fatigue and general malaise.

Meanwhile, following outcomes of the research, the experts met as a ‘clinical network’ and authored a White Paper on the Socio-Economic Burden of Hepatitis C to generate regional patient management and infection prevention recommendations. “Because our findings shed light on the seriousness of the disease in MENA and because insufficient attention has been given to addressing the problem in a region — which has one of the highest prevalence of infection anywhere in the world — we agreed that our conclusions and recommendations should underpin a consensus statement on Hepatitis C,” said Professor David Goldberg, professor of Public Health and Infectious Disease Epidemiology, Scotland. In some MENA countries, particularly those with a lower gross domestic product (GDP), a major route of infection is exposure to unsterile equipment in healthcare settings.

“A programme of awareness raising initiatives, aimed at both preventing and diagnosing Hepatitis C, should be developed and implemented,” said Professor Ibrahim Mostafa, Gastroenterology and Hepatology, Cairo University.

asmaalizain@khaleejtimes.com