No room at the hospital for long-suffering hepatitis carriers

StephenW

No room at the hospital for long-suffering hepatitis carriers                        

• Source: Global Times
• [22:15 October 27 2010]
• Comments
  

                                                        By Wu Huaiting
Getting through pregnancy is tough enough; being a hepatitis B carrier makes it even worse for expecting moms in China.
Recently, I received a lot of fraught phone calls from one of my pregnant friends.
As the mother of a two-year-old, she is not unfamiliar with all the hormone changes and the emotional roller coaster during the pregnancy.
But as a haigui (returnee from overseas) who gave birth to her first child in the US, she found it difficult to cope with the treatment of pregnant woman with hepatitis B in China.
Even in the most expensive hospital in Beijing that caters exclusively to the expats and the rich Chinese, she felt an often unsubtle discrimination.
On her first visit, she saw a Chinese obstetrician. Unlike the smiling, patient and friendly physicians she had got so used to during her long stay in the US, the obstetrician had an indifferent tone, typical of big hospital doctors in China.
But the worse was yet to come. When my friend mentioned that she was a hepatitis B carrier, the doctor told her bluntly that nobody wants to share a delivery room with a hepatitis B carrier and she would have to give birth in a quarantined area.
Discrimination against the hepatitis B carriers is nothing new. My friend knew that hepatitis B carriers were treated differently in job hunting and many other areas. But all this was distant to her until she discovered, when in the US, that she was a carrier.
That discovery changed her life, for the moment at least. After hearing all the horrible stories in China about how hepatitis B virus carriers were treated and couldn't have healthy babies, she panicked and worried that the news was going to wreck her family.
Luckily, both her husband and her doctor assured her that nothing would happen. The doctor further eased her mind by telling her that all her Asian clients with hepatitis B had healthy babies. Later, my friend had a happy pregnancy and gave birth to a healthy baby.
So my friend thought it might all be because of the obstetrician. Trying an American physician might make things much easier. She booked an appointment with an American physician now working in China.
But things didn't go the way my friend hoped. The American physician had a better attitude and was a little more patient, but she gave my friend no assurance about her status as a hepatitis B carrier and told her that she was not certain that my friend could deliver at the hospital. It all depended on the progress of the pregnancy and the doctor claimed she had to follow the hospital rules.
The visit killed my friend's last hopes. She lost confidence in the local medical system. She had been to the best possible hospital in Beijing. Where else in China could she go?
In our long conversations over the phone, I could hear the sadness in her voice. She felt like a different woman in China. The happy and confident mother was gone. I wished I could comfort her, but, facing the reality in China, I had nothing to say.
Last week, I received an e-mail update from her. She told me that she had just gone back to the US for the birth and was not going to return even after the delivery.
Her new doctor reassured her that she did not need to worry a bit about being a hepatitis B carrier. Everyone in the clinic is immunized and the new baby will be immunized too. There was no reason to treat her differently from others.
So life is back on track for my friend. But it left me thinking how China had just lost another talent because of the overwhelming concern over the hepatitis B. I believe the Chinese medical staff at Beijing's hospitals are all properly immunized against hepatitis B and use the same methods to protect their patients.
With such a high population of hepatitis B carriers, they should have more knowledge of the disease and act more professionally than their US peers.
But the reality is the opposite. Carriers are already discriminated against in every walk of life. The hospital should be the last place they face prejudice.
The author is a former reporter with the Global Times who now resides in the US. viewpoint@ globaltimes.com.cn

StephenW

English to Chinese (Simplified) translation
没有长期遭受苦难的肝炎带菌者的房间在医院

    *资料来源：环球时报
    * [2010年10月27日22:15]
    *评论

吴Huaiting

通过怀孕，出行是不够强硬，是一个乙肝病毒携带者，让即使是在中国母亲期望更糟。

最近，我收到了我的一个朋友怀孕充满了很多电话。

作为一个两岁孩子的母亲，她是不是所有的激素变化，在怀孕期间的情绪过山车陌生。

但作为一个海归（从海外回流）谁生下了她在美国的第一个孩子，她觉得难以应付孕妇与治疗B型肝炎在中国。

即使在北京最昂贵的医院，专门为迎合外国人和富人中，她感到一种常常unsubtle歧视。

她的第一次访问期间，她看到了中国的产科医生。不同的是面带微笑，耐心，友好的医生周女士在她在美国长期保持如此习惯，产科医生有一个冷漠的音调，在中国大医院医生的典型。

但更糟糕的是尚未到来。当我的朋友所说，她是乙肝病毒携带者，医生告诉她直言，没有人愿意分享一个带有B型肝炎带产房，她将不得不给出生在一个隔离区。

对乙肝携带者的歧视是什么新鲜事。我的朋友知道治疗乙肝携带者在就业狩猎和许多其他领域一样。但是，这一切遥远的她，直到她发现，当在美国，她是一个载体。

这一发现改变了她一生的时刻，至少。在听取有关如何在中国乙肝病毒携带者进行治疗，不能拥有健康的宝宝所有可怕的故事，她感到恐慌，担心消息是要破坏她的家人。

幸运的是，她的丈夫和她的医生告诉她什么都不会发生。进一步放宽医生告诉她，她所有的亚洲客户与B型肝炎有健康的婴儿她的主意。后来，我的朋友度过了一个愉快怀孕，并生下一个健康的婴儿。

所以我的朋友认为这可能是因为所有的产科医生。一位美国医生试图可能会使事情变得更加容易。她预定与美国目前在中国工作的医生预约。

但是事情并没有走的路我的朋友希望。美国医生有一个更好的态度，是一个多一点耐心，但是她给我的朋友，没有了她作为一个乙肝病毒携带者身份的保证，并告诉她，她不能肯定我的朋友可以提供在医院。这一切都取决于妊娠的进展，医生声称她不得不跟着医院的规则。

杀了我的朋友，这次访问的最后希望。她失去了当地的医疗制度的信心。她曾在北京的最佳可能的医院。在中国还有什么地方可她去？

我们在电话中长时间交谈，我能听到她的声音悲伤。她觉得在中国不同的女人。母亲的快乐和自信不见了。我希望我能安慰她，但是，中国面临的现实，我没有什么可说的。

上周，我接到她的电子邮件更新。她告诉我，她刚刚回到美国去的诞生，并不会申报，经交付。

她的新医生安慰她说，她并不需要担心被一B型肝炎带一点。每个人都在临床免疫和对新生婴儿进行免疫接种将太。没有任何理由将她从别人不同。

因此，生命又回到我的朋友的轨道。但它留给我思考如何中国刚刚丢了，因为在B型肝炎最关心的，我相信中国在北京医院的医务人员都妥善乙肝免疫，并使用相同的方法来保护他们的病人另一个人才。

有了这样的高人口乙肝携带者，他们应该有更多的疾病知识和行为更加专业比他们的美国同行。

但实际情况却相反。运营商们已经受到歧视各行各业。医院应该是最后的地方，他们面临的偏见。

笔者是一个环球时报谁现在居住在美国的前记者。 [email protected]