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179355 tn?1207407251

CDC Report for Baby Boomers

CDC to baby boomers: Get tested for hepatitis C
Published - May 18 2012 12:17PM EST

MIKE STOBBE, AP Medical Writer

ATLANTA (AP) — For the first time, health officials are proposing that all baby boomers get tested for hepatitis C.

Anyone born from 1945 to 1965 should get a one-time blood test to see if they have the liver-destroying virus, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said in draft recommendations issued Friday.

Baby boomers account for 2 million of the 3.2 million Americans infected with the blood-borne virus. The virus can take decades to cause liver damage, and many people don't know they're infected.

CDC officials believe the new measure could lead 800,000 more baby boomers to get treatment and could save more than 120,000 lives.

"The CDC views hepatitis C as an unrecognized health crisis for the country, and we believe the time is now for a bold response," said Dr. John W. Ward, the CDC's hepatitis chief.

Several developments drove the CDC's push for wider testing, he said.

Recent data has shown that from 1999 and 2007, there was a 50 percent increase in the number of Americans dying from hepatitis C-related diseases. Also, two drugs hit the market last year that promise to cure many more people than was previously possible.

The hepatitis C virus is most commonly spread today through sharing needles to inject drugs. Before widespread screening of blood donations began in 1992, it was also spread through blood transfusions.

Health officials believe hundreds of thousands of new hepatitis C infections were occurring each year in the 1970s and 1980s, most of them in the younger adults of the era — the baby boomers. The hepatitis C virus was first identified in 1989.

Today, about 17,000 infections occur annually, according to CDC estimates. The virus can gradually scar the liver and lead to cirrhosis or liver cancer. It is the leading cause of liver transplants.

About 3 percent of baby boomers test positive for the virus, the CDC estimates.

The agency's current guidelines recommend testing people known to be at high risk, including current and past injection drug users.

The new testing recommendation is expected to become final later this year.

After all these years, the main blame is still on drug use and, unfortunately the public perception still see's it as that. My dragon was given to me by a contaminated innoculation while in the military serving my country. How many other dragons came from an accidental needle sticks as a health care provider, or dental procedures, or any other medical procedures that exposed us to the possibility of  Hepatitis C.  I'm glad the CDC finally came out with the threat that affects us "baby boomers" but at least provide other possibilities to those that aren't drug users.    
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Avatar universal
They tried to give me a blood transfusion, in 1983, after the birth of my son, as well.
   I had read about a couple of cases of AIDS, stemming from blood transfusions, so I refused the blood transfusion, much to the irritation of my O.B. and the nurses.
   I tend to go with my own instincts, rather than what the Medical Profession tells me. I weigh all the odds, etc.
   When I came on this website, I was very saddened to find out so many Baby-Boomers are having to treat, so late in life (many in there 60's) and that many of people didn't find out they had Hep C until they had cirrhosis.
   The problem is, as many as 40% of people with Hep C,,may have normal enzymes. That is why mandatory testing is so important. Even if a person hasn't had a transfusion, or done I.V. drugs, there are also many cases of people (stats say 20%..although many people may not answer the "I.V. use questin truthfully, because of stigma) who dont even know how they caught Hep C~
   I would reccommend to all my Baby_Bommer friends: go get tested! It cant hurt, and it can save your life~
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1652596 tn?1342011626
thank you for posting this article.  it's about time they do mandatory testing of the baby boomers.  i got mine from a blood transfusion when giving birth to my oldest son.  i never knew i had it until 1 1/2 years ago.  my son is now 38.  take care.  belle
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