New hep C campaign to target boomers, IV drug users

A new state-run campaign will heavily push screening for hepatitis C among baby boomers and intravenous drug users.

Set to launch in mid-October, the Delaware Division of Public Health program aims to reach out to health care providers, especially primary care doctors and substance abuse clinicians, to educate them on whom to screen and how the disease is transmitted.

A story in The News Journal this month detailed how the state’s wave of heroin addiction is driving an explosion of hepatitis C cases among intravenous drug users and the barriers they face to get expensive medication.

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Hepatitis C: Why people born 1945-1965 should get tested

The month of May is designated as Hepatitis Awareness Month.

During May, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and Douglas County Department of Health and Human Services, Public Health work to shed light on this hidden epidemic by raising awareness of viral hepatitis and encouraging individuals to get tested.

Douglas County Department of Health and Human Services, Public Health encourages you to take a five-minute online assessment developed by the CDC, which provides a personalized report on hepatitis testing and vaccination recommendations. To complete the assessment, visit www.cdc.gov/hepatitis/RiskAssessment or talk to your health care provider about hepatitis testing and your risks.

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AIDS Specialist Advocates Sweeping Approach to Battle Against Hepatitis C

Could hepatitis C be the next communicable disease to come under a targeted attack in B.C.?

It will be if HIV/AIDS expert Dr. Julio Montaner has his way.

Montaner said Tuesday that even if the virus is eradicated among baby boomers, that won’t stop its continued spread.

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Hepatitis C and the Baby Boomer Generation

As the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention release new guidelines regarding testing baby boomers - St. Luke' s Magic Valley is putting a new initiative in place.

"Three quarters of all patients with Hep. C in fact are baby boomers. Unfortunately more than three quarters of them are unknown to us," explained Dr. Brian Berk, Gastroenterologist, St. Luke’s Magic Valley.

Hepatitis C is a contagious liver disease that ranges in severity. It's spread primarily through contact with the blood of an infected person.

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