Hepatits C Has Killed More People In The United States Over The Past Decade Than HIV and AIDS Or Any Other Form Of Viral Infection

Let’s be perfectly clear – the Hepatitis C virus, known as HCV, has killed more people in the United States over the past ten years than the AIDS-causing HIV virus. But HIV information and education resources are everywhere, and Hepatitis is the ignored and forgotten killer.  HCV is the leading chronic virus infection leading to death in the United States. The victims most often are baby boomers and most of them do not know they have the virus until it is too late. As many as 2 million of the 5.5 million infected American citizens do not even know they have the virus. While the fight against HIV has been championed, HCV has been allowed to invade our country and do extreme damage that we have chosen to ignore with a smile and a shrug of our shoulders.

Enough is enough!  Researchers from the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) found in a study published in the February 21, 2012 issue of the Annals of Internal Medicine that hepatitis C had overtaken HIV as a cause of death in the United States by 2007. Deaths in the United States due to HIV infection have been steadily decreasing, and dropped below 13,000 in 2007, while deaths from hepatitis C infection have been steadily increasing, first surpassing 15,000 per year in 2007. The good news is that the various drug combination strategies that have done so much to transform HIV infection from a death sentence to a manageable disease are poised to further boost cure rates for those infected with hepatitis C.

PERSONS AT RISK According To The CDC

Chronic Hepatitis C has been diagnosed in about three million people in the United States. If you received a blood infusion before 1992 in any country, including America, you are at risk. If you received a blood transfusion in any European country prior to the past ten years, you could be at risk. If you received a blood transfusion in a third world country last year, you could be at risk. A major problem is that HCV often causes no symptoms before it is almost too late and the only viable treatment is a liver transplant. Many who have been infected for years or even decades may remain unaware until deadly symptoms finally appear with a vengeance. The ultimate cause of death attributable to chronic infection is cirrhosis or liver cancer, and there is no vaccine.

Compared to HIV or hepatitis B, the risk of hepatitis C being transmitted by sex is low. However, like HIV, that risk is increased in homosexual encounters. The idea of screening the general population seems obvious. At least, offer screenings at local businesses and clinics like they do with HIV. The problem is that the HCV test is much more expensive and much more difficult to do than the HIV test, What has been controversial is whether or not all baby boomers should be screened, but why the insurance companies are ignoring the threat to their clients and rejecting screening opportunities. Yet, another study suggests that a one-time blood test ordered by primary care providers to screen for antibodies to hepatitis C in those born between 1945 and 1965 would be cost effective – costing $2,874 for each chronically infected patient identified – and would lead to the identification of more than a million previously undiagnosed cases.

SCREENING RECOMMENDATIONS OF THE CDC

It is important not to mistake Hepatitis A or Hepatitis B for Hepatitis C. Despite having the same name, they are very different diseases. Hepatitis A is the traditional version of hepatitis that we have head about since we were kids. Hepatitis B chronically infects about half as many as hepatitis C in the United States, but it hits those of Asian descent particularly hard. Hepatitis B is responsible for about 1,800 deaths yearly in the United States. Despite the similar names, the two viruses are not closely related. Hepatitis B is spread much more easily through sexual intercourse, and passes from mother to newborn child much more easily. In most adults who become infected the immune system successfully controls infection. In addition, there are vaccines for hepatitis B.

It is time for a medical revolution in regards to Hepatitis C and a powerful campaign across all traditional lines of media to raise awareness. When two million Americans, despite past lifestyle choices, are in critical danger and do not even know it, enough is enough. We must take action or watch the death rates rise even higher until it becomes a black spot on the soul of our country.