Eldercare Q&A               January, 2013

Boomers: Get Hepatitis C Test

Q: Do older people need to get a hepatitis C test?

 

A: Yes, according the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, all baby boomers should get a hepatitis C virus, which is a one-time test.

According to the CDC, 1 in 30 people born from 1945 through 1965 – has been infected with hepatitis C, and most don’t know it. That’s only 3% of the boomers, but in lives it means that over 2 million American baby boomers are infected with hepatitis C which causes serious liver diseases, including liver cancer—the fastest-rising cause of cancer-related deaths—-and the leading cause of liver transplants in America.

Hepatitis C has been called a “silent killer” because it often has no symptoms and can go decades without being detected.[i]  In the meantime, serious liver damage or even liver cancer may occur.

Those at increased risk for hepatitis C include people who had blood transfusions before 1992, people with tattoos, people who used intravenous drugs – even once – and those who work in a healthcare setting.3 Certain populations, including African Americans and Hispanics, are also affected by hepatitis C at a significantly higher rate than the general population.

The CDC released its recommendations on hepatitis C this past August.  According to the CDC, “A one-time blood test for hepatitis C should be on every baby boomer’s medical checklist. The new recommendations can protect the health of an entire generation of Americans and save thousands of lives.”

This new recommendation was a break from past CDC’s policy. In earlier policy recommendations, the CDC had urged testing only for individuals with certain known risk factors for hepatitis C infection. The new CDC recommendation means that screenings based on risk factors will continue to be important—but now all baby boomers are being urged to get a hepatitis C test.

Baby boomers infected with hepatitis C account for more than 75 percent of all American adults living with the virus. Studies show that many baby boomers were infected with the virus decades ago, and do not realize their health may be at risk. As a result, they have never been screened. But the danger is, more than 15,000 Americans–most of them baby boomers–die each year from hepatitis C-related illness, such as cirrhosis and liver cancer. Hepatitis C deaths have been increasing steadily for over a decade and are projected to grow significantly in coming years.

The CDC estimates that if all baby boomers took the one-time hepatitis C test, more than 800,000 additional people would be diagnosed with hepatitis C. There are new therapies available now that can cure up to 75 percent of hepatitis C infections. The CDC estimates that broader testing, coupled with appropriate care and treatment, could save more than 120,000 lives, and prevent the cost of treating liver cancer and other chronic liver diseases.

Ask your doctor for an antibody test for hepatitis C at your next visit.

Posted in Latest News