Why Are They Testing Baby Boomers for Hep C
Many Infant Boomers Not Tested for Hep C Despite Risk
Despite the CDC recommendation that every babe boomer exist screened for hepatitis C, many aren't, co-ordinate to a WebMD survey.
Nigh one-half (268) of the baby boomers who responded to the survey said they hadn't been tested, and the majority (86%) said they didn't remember they were at risk for the illness.
Hepatitis C is a viral infection that tin can lead to serious liver damage if information technology'due south not treated.
About 78% of boomer respondents said they didn't get tested because their doctor hadn't brought it up. And 74% said they passed on testing considering they didn't have symptoms. Merely the virus oftentimes doesn't cause noticeable signs until information technology's avant-garde.
The survey of 709 WebMD readers ages 18 and older highlighted current attitudes and misconceptions around hepatitis C.
An estimated 41,000 people are infected with hepatitis C each year, and 2.4 one thousand thousand Americans have it. Almost 75% of people who have the virus are role of the infant boom generation, born betwixt 1945 and 1965.
Why Become Tested?
Hepatitis C is a silent disease. Three out of iv people who've been infected don't know they take information technology.
A claret test is the only fashion to find out if you've been infected earlier the virus causes serious health problems. If your test shows yous take it, antiviral drugs tin cure it in nigh cases and prevent hereafter issues.
"Information technology'south and then sad when we run across patients who take been unknowingly infected for many years and come in with cirrhosis, cancer, or liver failure," says Sammy Saab, MD, professor of medicine and surgery at UCLA.
Understanding Your Hep C Run a risk
Baby boomers' chances of having hepatitis C are higher in function because they could have been exposed to it through 4 drug employ or unprotected sexual activity before the virus was known about or anyone was being tested for it. Some also could have gotten it through a blood transfusion or organ transplant before widespread screening of the blood supply began in 1992.
While it was once uncommon amongst younger people, their odds of having it have risen sharply in recent years. One reason for that could be the increase in 4 drug use caused by the growing opioid problem. Lxx-three percent of those surveyed correctly said that all baby boomers should be tested, but about three-quarters of survey respondents betwixt the ages of eighteen and 38 didn't recall they were at risk.
"We are starting to realize that we take to start looking beyond babe boomers for screening," says Waridibo Allison, MD, PhD, banana professor of infectious disease at UT Health San Antonio. "If we're going to make any impact on the hepatitis C epidemic in the U.S., nosotros accept to starting time focusing on these other groups."
In almost 10% to xv% of people with hepatitis C, doctors tin't observe whatever take a chance factors. "Nosotros sometimes scratch our heads a little bit and wonder how these patients became infected," says Ira Jacobson, Medico, director of hepatology at NYU Langone Health.
Why Doctors Don't Talk About Hepatitis C
In the WebMD survey, lxxx% of baby boomers with no risk factors said they would be willing to go screened if their physician recommended it. But many health intendance professionals don't mention it. One reason might be that they're overwhelmed.
"They're worried about blood pressure, diabetes, cholesterol, and obesity. It's hard to throw something else on their plate," Saab says.
The stigma of the disease also may hold some doctors back. "It can be a piffling bad-mannered to ask near risky behaviors like injected drug utilize," Jacobson says. "Even when the questions are asked, a substantial number of patients are reluctant to admit to it for fear of the physician existence judgmental."
He adds that doctors shouldn't be "inconversable about asking."
Sources of Misinformation
Survey respondents knew most of the big risk factors for hepatitis C. Virtually 87% named claret transfusions and IV drug use, and 71% correctly identified unprotected sexual practice. Simply more than 40% missed everyday ways to become the virus, similar sharing razors or toothbrushes with someone who has it.
And 47% of respondents weren't aware that hepatitis C can exist cured, while nigh half incorrectly guessed that a vaccine tin can forestall it. Vaccines are available against hepatitis A and B viruses, but despite more than 25 years of inquiry, no vaccine exists for hepatitis C.
"The problem is the virus mutates," Saab says. "Yous can't develop immunity confronting something that keeps on changing."
Some of the misinformation may come from the sources readers accept used. Only 45% said they go to government health sites like the CDC, and only 31% visit nonprofit teaching websites like the American Liver Foundation.
"There'due south a lot of inaccurate medical information out there, not simply with hepatitis C but across the board," Allison says. "What I say to patients is, 'Exist careful of your sources. Stick to sources that are well known.' I guide people toward the CDC and American Association for the Study of Liver Diseases (AASLD) websites."
Even if your information sources are solid, don't try to diagnose yourself, Saab cautions. "Information technology's improve to talk to a provider."
Source: https://www.webmd.com/hepatitis/features/survey-baby-boomers-hepatitis-c
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