On May 18, 2012, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention announced that anyone born between 1945 and 1965 should be tested for hepatitis C.
Baby boomers are the generation most likely to be infected with hepatitis C., but only about 25% of us have been tested for it. Many people do not know they are infected because they do not look or feel sick. The CDC believes that hundreds of thousands of hepatitis C infections occurred in the 1970's and 1980's among baby boomers.
Hepatitis A, B and C are contagious diseases caused by different viruses. First identified in 1989, the hepatitis C virus is a blood borne pathogen normally spread by contact with an infected person's blood. The disease is most common among current or past injection drug abusers. Before 1992, hepatitis C was sometimes transmitted by blood transfusions. Having sex with an infected person is a less common mode of transmission. The virus may be spread by sharing razors, toothbrushes, getting tattoos, body piercings or manicures with contaminated instruments.
A spokesperson for the CDC warned that baby boomers might not remember their risky behavior. A dollar bill rolled up to snort coke and passed from one person to the next might contain enough blood to transmit the virus.
The virus is not spread by sharing eating utensils, breastfeeding, hugging, kissing, coughing or sneezing, or through food or water.
Acute hepatitis C occurs within the first six months of exposure. Most people with acute hepatitis C develop the serious, lifelong chronic form of this disease.
Chronic hepatitis C can lead to scarring (cirrhosis) of the liver or liver cancer. This infection is the leading cause of liver transplant today. The virus may damage other parts of the body as well. The number of people who died of hepatitis C related illnesses nearly doubled between 1999 and 2007. The CDC estimates that more than 15,000 Americans die of hepatitis C related illnesses every year.
My interest in hepatitis C is personal. About two years ago, I located my former roommate's adult daughter. She told me that her mother had died of liver cancer in 2006. She said her mother had hepatitis C for about 30 years before she developed liver cancer. This was surprising to me because we lived together for several years, but her mother never told me that she was infected with hepatitis C.
The CDC has announced that living with a person who has hepatitis C slightly increases your risk of contracting the virus.
The CDC is hoping to save more lives by encouraging baby boomers to take the one time blood test for hepatitis C. There are medications that can be taken to fight the infection. So please call your doctor and schedule an appointment to be tested. The life saved might be your own.
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