Health Alert: Hepatitis C Testing for Baby Boomers

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention recommends adults born during 1945-1965 should receive one-time testing for the hepatitis C virus (HCV).  For these reasons:

• National data show this age group has a 5 times higher prevalence of the infection than other adults, and the age group makes us 75% of all those who have the disease
   
• HCV is the leading cause of liver transplants and liver cancer
  
• A high proportion of those infected are unaware
  
• Treatment can halt disease progression and provide a virologic cure in most infected persons

Robert G. Tupac, DDS, FACP, Inc.
Diplomate, American Board of Prosthodontics
(661) 325-1275 | www.drtupac.com
5060 California Ave., #170
Bakersfield, CA 93309

Baby Boomers and Hepatitis C

More Americans now die as a result of hepatitis C infection than from HIV related causes.  An estimated 3.2 million Americans are infected with hepatitis C, which can lead to liver cancer.  About two-thirds of those are baby boomers, born between 1945 and 1964.  While 1 in 33 Americans born during that period are infected, at least half don't know because screening is rare.  The disease is commonly spread through contact with contaminated blood, but is usually diagnosed decades later, when routine blood tests uncover liver damage caused by the virus over time.  Conventional treatment include pegylated interferon and ribavirin.  Two new protease inhibitors have been shown to be highly effective in eliminating the virus in people with less-advanced liver disease.  As with any treatment, early diagnosis means greater treatment success. 

Robert G. Tupac, DDS, FACP, Inc., Diplomate, American Board of Prosthodontics (661) 325-1275 | www.drtupac.com 5060 California Ave., #170, Bakersfield, CA 93309