Why Are Baby Boomers High Risk for Hep C
Many Babe Boomers Not Tested for Hep C Despite Risk
Despite the CDC recommendation that every baby boomer be screened for hepatitis C, many aren't, co-ordinate to a WebMD survey.
Nearly 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 call back they were at risk for the illness.
Hepatitis C is a viral infection that can lead to serious liver harm if it's not treated.
About 78% of boomer respondents said they didn't go tested because their physician hadn't brought it up. And 74% said they passed on testing considering they didn't accept symptoms. Merely the virus often doesn't crusade noticeable signs until it'due south 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 million Americans have information technology. About 75% of people who have the virus are office of the baby boom generation, born between 1945 and 1965.
Why Get Tested?
Hepatitis C is a silent disease. Three out of four people who've been infected don't know they have it.
A blood test is the but way to find out if you've been infected before the virus causes serious health problems. If your test shows you have it, antiviral drugs tin can cure it in about cases and foreclose future issues.
"Information technology's so sorry when we see patients who have 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.
Agreement Your Hep C Risk
Baby boomers' chances of having hepatitis C are higher in function because they could take been exposed to it through 4 drug use or unprotected sex activity before the virus was known about or anyone was beingness tested for it. Some also could take gotten it through a blood transfusion or organ transplant earlier widespread screening of the blood supply began in 1992.
While information technology was once uncommon among younger people, their odds of having it accept risen sharply in recent years. One reason for that could exist the increase in Iv drug use caused past the growing opioid problem. Lxx-three percent of those surveyed correctly said that all infant boomers should be tested, but almost 3-quarters of survey respondents betwixt the ages of eighteen and 38 didn't call back they were at risk.
"We are starting to realize that nosotros have to start looking beyond baby boomers for screening," says Waridibo Allison, Md, PhD, assistant professor of infectious disease at UT Health San Antonio. "If we're going to make any affect on the hepatitis C epidemic in the U.South., nosotros have to outset focusing on these other groups."
In about x% to 15% of people with hepatitis C, doctors can't find whatever gamble factors. "We sometimes scratch our heads a little chip and wonder how these patients became infected," says Ira Jacobson, Doc, director of hepatology at NYU Langone Health.
Why Doctors Don't Talk Most Hepatitis C
In the WebMD survey, lxxx% of infant boomers with no chance factors said they would be willing to go screened if their medico recommended information technology. Only many health care professionals don't mention information technology. One reason might be that they're overwhelmed.
"They're worried most claret force per unit area, diabetes, cholesterol, and obesity. It's difficult to throw something else on their plate," Saab says.
The stigma of the disease likewise may hold some doctors back. "It can be a little awkward to enquire nearly risky behaviors like injected drug utilise," Jacobson says. "Even when the questions are asked, a substantial number of patients are reluctant to admit to information technology for fearfulness of the doctor being judgmental."
He adds that doctors shouldn't be "bashful about asking."
Sources of Misinformation
Survey respondents knew most of the big risk factors for hepatitis C. Almost 87% named claret transfusions and IV drug use, and 71% correctly identified unprotected sex. Just more than xl% missed everyday means to get the virus, like sharing razors or toothbrushes with someone who has it.
And 47% of respondents weren't aware that hepatitis C can exist cured, while about half incorrectly guessed that a vaccine can prevent 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 trouble is the virus mutates," Saab says. "You tin't develop immunity against something that keeps on changing."
Some of the misinformation may come from the sources readers have used. Only 45% said they go to government health sites like the CDC, and merely 31% visit nonprofit education websites like the American Liver Foundation.
"There'southward a lot of inaccurate medical information out at that place, non but with hepatitis C but across the board," Allison says. "What I say to patients is, 'Be 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'south better to talk to a provider."
Source: https://www.webmd.com/hepatitis/features/survey-baby-boomers-hepatitis-c
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