Free hepatitis C screenings
On Thursday, May 19, a hepatitis C screening will be offered free of charge at three locations in Clallam County. (See below.) Screening will be performed by trained medical personnel and nursing students and requires a finger stick to collect a small drop of blood. Testing takes about 30 minutes to complete. Although walk-ins are welcome, you are encouraged to call 457-4431 to schedule an appointment.
Sequim/Port Angeles locations:
• Volunteers in Medicine of the Olympics — 819 E. Georgiana St., Port Angeles
• Dungeness Valley Health & Wellness Clinic — 777 N. Fifth Ave., Suite 109, Sequim
by Jeanette Stehr-Green and Christopher Frank
With new treatments available for hepatitis C, it has never been more important to follow the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) testing guidelines for this potentially life-threatening illness.
Hepatitis C is an infectious disease caused by a virus that attacks the liver. It differs from other infectious diseases in several ways.
• Most people infected with the virus do not get sick when they initially are infected.
• Once infected with the hepatitis C virus, most people do not clear the infection from their bodies and remain infected for life (called chronic infection).
• People with chronic hepatitis C can live for decades without symptoms even though their liver is being damaged. Chronic hepatitis C can lead to scarring of the liver (cirrhosis), liver cancer and death.
Because people with chronic hepatitis C often don’t develop symptoms until serious liver damage occurs 20 or 30 years down the road, the majority of people who are infected do not know they are infected. As a result, hepatitis C has been dubbed the “silent” epidemic.
But the silent epidemic is growing. According to the CDC, an estimated 3.5 million people in the United States have chronic hepatitis C virus infection.
Furthermore, hepatitis C is a leading cause of liver cancer in the United States and the No. 1 cause of liver transplants.
Chronic hepatitis C is the second most commonly reported notifiable disease in Clallam County.
Who is at risk?
Hepatitis C virus is spread through contact with the blood of an infected person. Before a sensitive test became available to screen the blood supply in 1992, hepatitis C was spread through blood transfusions, a variety of blood products and organ transplants.
Today, hepatitis C virus primarily is spread by sharing needles (and other paraphernalia) used to inject drugs. Sometimes infected mothers can pass the virus to their babies during pregnancy. Less commonly, the infection spreads from sharing items like razors or toothbrushes, or having sexual contact with a person infected with hepatitis C virus.
People of all ages and walks of life can be infected with hepatitis C but people born from 1945-1965 are five times more likely than other adults to be infected; in fact, 75 percent of adults infected with hepatitis C are baby boomers who have been infected for many years.
The reason that baby boomers have high rates of hepatitis C is not completely understood. Many baby boomers could have gotten infected from contaminated blood and blood products before widespread screening of the blood supply. Others may have become infected from injecting drugs, even if only once in the past. But many baby boomers do not know how or when they were infected.
Getting tested
Treatment for chronic hepatitis C infection has improved dramatically in recent years. Many people can now be cured with medications that have far fewer side effects than treatments used in the past. Because something can be done about the infection, knowing your hepatitis C status is important. Getting tested is the only way to know if you have the infection.
CDC recommends hepatitis C testing for persons with certain risk factors or characteristics, and that all baby boomers get tested at least once. (See sidebar.)
Under the Affordable Care Act, Medicare, Medicaid and most private insurance plans are required to cover testing of persons at increased risk for hepatitis C, including baby boomers, without cost-sharing. This means that you can go to your health care provider and ask to be tested, even if you do not have symptoms suggestive of hepatitis C.
As part of National Hepatitis Awareness Month, Clallam County Health and Human Services is partnering with Volunteers in Medicine of the Olympics free clinic, Dungeness Valley Health & Wellness Clinic and Peninsula College School of Nursing to offer no cost screening for hepatitis C. (See sidebar.)
Don’t be a victim of the silent epidemic. Find out if you are infected with hepatitis C so that you can take important steps to protect your health.
For more information about hepatitis C, attend the Community Education Forum sponsored by Clallam County Health and Human Services and partners from 5-7 p.m. Tuesday, May 17, at Linkletter Hall at Olympic Medical Center in Port Angeles. Call 417-2274 for details.
Jeanette Stehr-Green, MD, is on the Clallam County Board of Health. Christopher Frank, MD, PhD, is the Clallam County Health Officer.
Should you be tested for hepatitis C?
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention recommends hepatitis C testing at least once for persons with the characteristics listed below.
• Born from 1945-1965
• Ever injected illegal drugs, including those who injected once or a few times many years ago
• Received clotting factor concentrates produced before 1987
• Received a transfusion of blood, blood components or an organ transplant before July 1992 (before screening was implemented)
• On long-term hemodialysis
• HIV infection
• Signs or symptoms of liver disease (e.g., abnormal liver enzyme tests)
• Born to hepatitis C virus-positive mothers
If an individual continues behaviors that put him or her at risk for hepatitis C infection (such as injecting drugs), testing should be repeated at least annually.
