Society

Dine with a stranger with Hepatitis B?

(chinadaily.com.cn)
Updated: 2010-05-17 16:17

A girl holding a sign saying "Will you have dinner with a HBV carrier" talks with a passer-by in a downtown street of Wuhan Sunday. [cnhubei.com]?

A girl with Hepatitis B took to the streets Sunday holding a sign saying "Will you have dinner with a HBV carrier" in a bid to raise awareness about the virus.

The girl, an overseas returnee who calls herself Chucao, told reporters in downtown Wuhan, capital of Hubei province, she was discovered to be carrying HBV – Hepatitis B Virus – during a physical examination to enter high school.

But in a panic, her family feared the stigma attached to the illness and forced to her to keep it a secret and move away.

Chucao then entered a college in Japan, where she found HBV is not regarded as a terrible disease like it is in China.

Back in China, Chucao encountered some other HBV carriers though the Internet and they formed an organization named Green Chucao. The organization committed itself to publishing scientific knowledge of HBV by carrying out activities such as inviting people to have dinner with sufferers. .

Before coming to Wuhan, Chucao carried out similar activities in Guangzhou, Nanjing, Suzhou and Kunshan. She encountered difficulties, but also kind-hearted people. One girl even donated 300 yuan.

In the afternoon, 14 volunteers agreed to go to a restaurant to have dinner with Chucao. They used disposable dishware and the atmosphere was reported as relaxing. It is not known how many of the volunteers were also HBV infected. During a previous occasion in Guangzhou last time all eight volunteers were carriers of the virus.

Medical expert said healthy people who have dinner with HBV carriers would not become infected as transmission does not occur through daily contact. Chucao hoped the news would eliminate people’s discrimination of HBV carriers.