Shimla, May 29 (IANS): A team of doctors of the Indira Gandhi Medical College and Hospital (IGMCH) in Shimla will study the high prevalence of Hepatitis B and C viruses in Kaza area of Lahaul-Spiti district of Himachal Pradesh, an official said on Friday.

To investigate the occurrence of Hepatitis B and C and the associated risk factors behind its cause in the tribal region of Kaza, a team of eight doctors from the IGMCH, headed by department of gastroenterology head Brij Sharma has been sent there, an official statement here said.

Sharma said that in the past three years the Kaza health block, with a population of 12,000, reported many Hepatitis B and C cases.

He said the reasons behind such high prevalence needed to be investigated.

Anmol Gupta of the department of community medicine is also part of the team.

Unscreened blood transfusions and the use of unsterlised needles and syringes are increasing Hepatitis B and C.

Kaza, the headquarters of Spiti, is some 320 km from the state capital Shimla through Kinnaur district and equidistant from the picturesque Manali tourist resort via Kunzum Pass (4,551 metres).