Hepatitis C Now Kills More Americans than HIV

According to the CDC, Hepatitis C has surpassed HIV as a killer of American adults. Hepatitis C, a liver infection caused by a virus of the same name, is typically spread through contact with contaminated blood. Frighteningly, about half of infected people do not know that they have the virus.¹

Roughly 50 percent of current cases of Hepatitis C are tied to injection drug use. Three percent of baby boomers, many of whom used drugs in their twenties and thirties before needle safety campaigns began to appear, are infected.¹


The good news is that Hepatitis C treatment has made great strides. Two new drugs have been licensed in the past year and approximately 70 percent of cases can be cured using an intense three-drug therapy that takes 24 weeks.² Success, however, depends on individuals being screened and treated in time. Since Hepatitis C doesn’t cause symptoms until serious damage has already been done, early screening is crucial. 

The CDC notes that when Hepatitis C is spread in healthcare settings, it is usually due to unsafe injection practices; reuse of needles, fingerstick devices and syringes and other lapses in infection control. To help prevent the transfer of Hepatitis C, as well as other bloodborne pathogens, the CDC recommends that healthcare workers adhere to standard precautions and fundamental infection control practices, including safe injection practices and the use of appropriate aseptic techniques.²

Reference
1 TIME. Q&A: What You Need to Know About Hepatitis C. Available at: http://healthland.time.com/2012/02/23/qa-what-you-need-to-know-about-hepatitis-c/. Accessed June 21, 2012.

2 Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Health Care Settings and Viral Hepatitis. Available at: http://www.cdc.gov/hepatitis/Settings/HealthcareSettings.htm. Accessed June 21, 2012.