New Move
Could Identify More Than 800,000 People With Hepatitis C
By Denise
Mann
WebMD Health
News
Reviewed by
Louise Chang, MD
Aug. 16, 2012
-- Effective immediately, all U.S. baby boomers should get a one-time blood
test for the hepatitis C virus, the CDC says.
One in 30
baby boomers born between 1945 through 1965 has been infected with hepatitis C,
and most have no clue. Hepatitis C can go undetected without symptoms, but
slowly causes serious liver diseases, including liver cancer. It is also the
leading cause of liver transplants in the U.S.
"Three-quarters
of all hepatitis C infections and three-quarters of hepatitis C deaths occur in
baby boomers," CDC Director Thomas R. Frieden, MD, MPH, said today during
a conference call with reporters. "Baby boomers are five times more likely
to have Hepatitis C than other adult Americans."
The new
recommendations strengthen existing guidelines that state that all people at
high risk for hepatitis C should be tested. "While we continue to
recommend testing for high-risk individuals, baby boomers are now added to the
list," Frieden says. This move could help identify 800,000 more Americans
with hepatitis C.
New Therapies
Can Cure Hepatitis C
"The
sooner you know, the more you can protect your liver and your life,"
Frieden says.
If the test
is positive, people can lower their risk of liver cancer and cirrhosis by:
Avoiding
certain medications that affect the liver
Avoiding
alcohol
Getting
vaccinated against Hepatitis A and B
New therapies
can cure up to 75% of infections. Frieden says the expanded testing, along with
appropriate care and treatment, could save more than 120,000 lives.
Frieden, a
baby boomer himself, plans to get tested at his next well visit.
Are You at
Risk for Hepatitis C?
Risk factors
for this silent but potentially lethal infection include:
History of
blood transfusions or other blood products, or organ transplant before
widespread adoption of screening measures
Long-term
dialysis treatment
Exposure to
hepatitis C such as through a health care setting
Infection
with HIV, the AIDS virus
Children born
to mothers with hepatitis C
Tattooing or
piercing with non-sterile instruments
Injection
drug use
"Some
baby boomers may not remember or know of the events that place them at
risk," says John Ward, MD. He directs the division of viral hepatitis at
the National Center for HIV/ AIDS, Viral Hepatitis, STD, and TB Prevention in
Atlanta.
"Hepatitis
C can live for decades in the body, slowly destroying the liver and causing no
symptoms," he says. "The earlier the treatment is provided, the more
effective it can be at reducing risk for liver damage and liver cancer."
The final
recommendations appear in CDC's Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report. Their
release dovetails with a new phase in the CDC's "No More Hepatitis"
campaign.
Hepatitis C
Experts Get Behind New Recommendations
Eugene R.
Schiff, MD, directs the Schiff Center for Liver Diseases at the University of
Miami School of Medicine, and is the vice president of the Chronic Liver
Disease Foundation. He is 100% behind the new recommendation.
By the time
this gets implemented, there will be more hepatitis C drugs available with
fewer side effects than existing medications, Schiff says. "It will be
test and treat like with HIV."
Former
hepatitis C patient Martha Saly also lauds the new recommendation. "This
is something we have been waiting for," says Saly, who is the director of
the National Viral Hepatitis Roundtable in Rohnert Park, Calif.
"Getting
diagnosed is really important because there are many things you can do to
maintain your health even if you have hepatitis C," she says. "Stop
drinking, stop smoking, lose weight, and you can really help your liver to not
progress so quickly. ... Alcohol is like putting gas on the fire when you
already have liver damage."
