A new study shows that a type of hepatitis caused by virus has become a leading cause of death and disability in the world, killing more people in a year than Aids, tuberculosis or malaria.

According to a data collected in 183 countries, including South Sudan, deaths from infection, liver disease and cancer caused by viral hepatitis increased by 63 percent from 890,000 in 1990 to 1.45 million in 2013.

In 2013, medical charity Medicines Sans Frontiers recorded 88 deaths caused by the disease, including 15 pregnant women in South Sudan.

In a report published in a science journal, the Lancet, there were 1.3 million deaths from Aids in 2013, 1.4 million from tuberculosis, and 855,000 from malaria.

“Whereas deaths from many infectious diseases — such as TB and malaria — have dropped since 1990, viral hepatitis deaths have risen,” said study leader Graham Cooke from Imperial College London’s medicine department.

There are five main types of Hepatitis, known as A, B, C, D and E.

Types A and E are typically transmitted via contaminated food or water, while B, C and D usually occur from contact with body fluids of an infected person.

An estimated 95 per cent of people are unaware of their infection, though treating hepatitis B and C can prevent the development of chronic liver disease.

The researchers say 96 per cent of hepatitis deaths counted in the review were caused by types B and C.