[Gertie Keddle]

CDC recommends hepatitis C tests for all baby boomers

By David Brown, Published: May 18
Washington Post
Excerpt:

The federal government Friday called for all baby boomers to be tested for hepatitis C, which kills more Americans each year than AIDS and is the leading reason for liver transplants.

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention made the recommendation to find hundreds of thousands of people who have the infection, which greatly increases their chances of developing cirrhosis and liver cancer, but don’t know it.

The hepatitis C virus is transmitted by blood, usually through intravenous drug use or transfusions, before a blood test for it became widely available in 1992. Extremely small amounts of the virus are able to cause infection. Some experts believe that rolled-up dollar bills used to snort cocaine and passed person-to-person can carry enough infected blood to transmit the virus.

“Many baby boomers may not even remember the behaviors that put them at risk,” said John W. Ward, head of the CDC’s division of viral hepatitis.

Epidemiologists estimate that about 3.2 million Americans are infected with hepatitis C, three-quarters of them baby boomers. The disease kills at least 15,000 people a year.

The CDC’s strategy calls for a one-time voluntary blood test for everyone born from 1945 to 1965. The test would be done by doctors, clinics and hospitals as part of routine medical care. Hepatitis C tests now target mostly people who report high-risk activities or show signs of abnormal liver function.

The strategy could identify 800,000 new cases in baby boomers and prevent 120,000 hepatitis-related deaths in that age group, Ward said.

Article

[Colt1911fan]

Those of us who have our blood tested regularly at a lab ( I'm type 2 diabetic ) will know in short order if you've been exposed to Hepatitus C. I suspect there's a lot of people walking around who have no idea that they've been exposed to hepatitus. I had TB back in the early eighties and had no idea until I went for my physical exam to join the Navy. The Navy docs spotted a nickle sized growth in my lung and I had to go through a long period of antibiotics. I never suspected i had TB. Docs said I either contracted it from the cattle on a ranch I worked on or possibly from Mexican illegals who would sometimes give me a lift to the next town when I was hitchhiking.

[BerkeleyUnderground]

Quote

Treatment of hepatitis C infection takes at least six months and consists of pills and a weekly injection. The cure rate used to be less than 30 percent; with a new three-drug strategy, it can be as high as 75 percent.

About 80 percent of people infected with hepatitis C remain so for their lifetimes. Most have no symptoms, although blood tests might reveal low-grade liver inflammation. Up to 30 percent eventually develop cirrhosis, a scarring of the liver that is often fatal. Cirrhosis also greatly increases the risk of developing liver cancer, which few people survive more than six months.

Yikes!

I hope that I don't have it.

Colt1911fan, on 19 May 2012 - 01:15 PM, said:

The Navy docs spotted a nickle sized growth in my lung and I had to go through a long period of antibiotics. I never suspected i had TB. Docs said I either contracted it from the cattle on a ranch I worked on or possibly from Mexican illegals who would sometimes give me a lift to the next town when I was hitchhiking.

...and I sure hope that I don't also have an undiagnosed case of TB.

This post has been edited by BerkeleyUnderground: 19 May 2012 - 01:34 PM

[leftcoast, right winger]

Colt1911fan, on 19 May 2012 - 01:15 PM, said:

Those of us who have our blood tested regularly at a lab ( I'm type 2 diabetic ) will know in short order if you've been exposed to Hepatitus C.
I

Amen. Now if they'd just test all the illegals and kids to get rid of whooping cough, TB, bubonic plague and other diseases that were once pretty much eradicated in the USA. Read the (obsolete) newspaper or listen to the news about new epidemics breaking out every week. Especially here in the border cities where the Mexicans come and go, crossing the border on a daily basis. They can live in filthy Tijuana and still get a green card or whatever to work here as maids, gardeners, etc. and send their (censored) kids to our schools here even though none of them are American citizens.

[RedMoonProject]

Is it just me or does this strike anyone else as just another Big Government boondoggle? How does the government know that there is a problem? Has there suddenly been a huge outbreak of this or are they just guessing? And who is going to pay for all this anyway? Obamacare?

Color me skeptical...

[Hieronymous]

As a blood donor, I think I would have been informed by now if I had Hep C.

[r12driver]

I am so jaded by whatever this government says that I automatically dismiss any advice they give. Matter of fact, going the opposite direction is generally better.

[MADGestic]

RedMoonProject, on 19 May 2012 - 05:19 PM, said:

Is it just me or does this strike anyone else as just another Big Government boondoggle? How does the government know that there is a problem? Has there suddenly been a huge outbreak of this or are they just guessing? And who is going to pay for all this anyway? Obamacare?



Color me skeptical...

Hepatitis A and B can often be prevented with vaccine (if you aren't already infected) but there is currently no vaccine for Hep-C. It is one of those "the sooner you know, the better" conditions; much like HIV, TB, syphilis, cancer, or virtually anything else you can think up. A routine screening is no big deal and has more to do with the individual acting responsibly than it does with BigBrotherism.