Over the past few months, the CDC has been ramping up its public education campaign regarding hepatitis C screening. The campaign now includes television commercials prompting more patients to ask their physicians about the test, according to The Day.
The CDC has recommended everyone born between 1945 and 1965 get a blood test for hepatitis C since 2012. The virus can lie dormant for 20 years or more before causing liver damage, cirrhosis and liver cancer. With the agency's added efforts, awareness about screening for the virus is growing.
"A lot of people are now calling to ask about it," Robert Sidman, MD, vice president of medical affairs for the east region of Hartford (Conn.) HealthCare, told The Day.
Dr. Sidman went on to say that more physicians are routinely recommending the test for patients aged 51 to 71 years. This patient demographic is approximately five times more likely than the rest of the population to carry the hepatitis C, since transmission of the virus was highest in the U.S. from the 1960s through the 1980s.
"Fifteen to 20 percent of those with the virus will have no effects, but 70 to 80 percent will develop some form of liver disease," said Dr. Sidman. "About 10 to 15 percent will get cirrhosis."
To learn more about hepatitis C, click here.
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