MAY 19 free hepatitis C testing

National Hepatitis Testing Day

"Baby boomers represent 76% of people in the U.S. with the hepatitis C virus but most who are ill are unaware of their infection." -- Nancy Steinfurth, Hep C Connection

DENVER, May 14, 2015 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- A new cure is possible for tens of thousands of Coloradans infected with the hepatitis C virus (HCV) – a silent killer responsible for most cases of liver disease, cirrhosis, liver failure or liver cancer in the United States. But, the vast majority of those infected don't know they have the virus.

"The great news is that new treatments approved by the FDA in the last two years have up to a 95 percent cure rate," says Nancy Steinfurth, executive director for Denver's Hep C Connection. "Hepatitis C can now be cured in most patients."

People who have HCV may have no symptoms or they may have "flu-like" symptoms. They may have stomachaches, loss of appetite, nausea, vomiting, fatigue, weight loss, and in some cases jaundice – a yellow appearance of the eyes or skin.

On May 19 – Annual National Hepatitis Testing Day – Hep C Connection and the Colorado Department of Public Health and Environment, in partnership with other non-profits and public health organizations, will host free testing for anyone concerned they may have HCV. The fast-response test requires a quick finger prick, and results are returned in 20 minutes. Those who test positive will be given information and resources for follow-up testing and care. Hepatitis C is a blood-borne illness that has infected an estimated 70,000 Coloradans. To date, no vaccine has been approved for HCV and Denver's 2014 Health of Denver report shows deaths locally from HCV have increased sharply in the past 10 years. As many as 17,000 HCV related deaths occur annually in the United States. These rates are expected to peak between the years 2030 and 2035 at 36,000 deaths per year.

"Early detection is the best defense against the ravages of hepatitis C," says Steinfurth.

Anyone can be tested, but Hep C Connection and the Colorado Department of Public Health and Environment especially recommend testing for those born between 1945 and 1965. Also at risk are those who had a blood transfusion or a blood product like Rhogam before 1992, obtained a tattoo outside of a licensed facility, or injected or snorted drugs – even only once. In addition, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention says men who've had sex with other men should be tested.

Free testing will be held at sites throughout Colorado. See below for test sites and locations. Also visit Hep C Connection's Step Up to Hep blog at: http://stepuptohepco.wordpress.com/ for more information about hepatitis in Colorado.

CONTACT: Dede Laugesen • Media Relations • 719-659-3121

INTERVIEW OPPORTUNITY: Hep C Connection executive director and hepatitis expert Nancy Steinfurth is available for on-camera, in-studio or telephone interviews. You can contact Steinfurth directly at 303-523-6131.

Hep C Connection 1325 S. Colorado Blvd., Bldg. B, Ste. 302, Denver, CO 80222
800-522-HEPC • www.hepc-connection.org

TEST SITES for May 19, 2015

Hep C Connection: http://www.hepc-connection.org

• Webb Municipal Building, 201 W. Colfax Ave., Denver, CO: 9 a.m. to 3 p.m.

Western Colorado AIDS Project (WestCAP): http://www.westcap.info  

Two test sites:

• Grand Valley Catholic Outreach 245 S. 1st St., Grand Junction, CO: 8 a.m. to 11 a.m.
• WestCAP 805 Main St., Grand Junction, CO: 11 a.m. to 5 p.m.

Northern Colorado AIDS Project (NCAP): http://www.ncaids.org

• Sister Mary Alice Murphy Center for Hope, 242 Conifer St., Fort Collins, CO: 8:30 a.m. to 11:30 a.m.

Boulder County AIDS Project (BCAP): http://bcap.org

• Boulder County AIDS Project, 2118 14th St., Boulder, CO: 10 a.m. to 5 p.m.

Boulder County Public Health: http://www.bouldercounty.org/dept/publichealth/pages/default.aspx

Two test sites:

• Boulder County Public Health 3482 Broadway, Boulder, CO: 8:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m.
• Boulder County Public Health 529 Coffman St., #200, Longmont, CO: 8:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m.

Hey Denver: http://heydenver.org

• Scales' Pharmacy, 1999 Pennsylvania St., Denver, CO: 3 p.m. to 8 p.m.

Denver Colorado AIDS Project (DCAP): http://www.denvercap.org  

• Avella Specialty Pharmacy 1245 E. Colfax Ave., Ste. 102, Denver, CO: 10 a.m. to 3 p.m.

Southern Colorado AIDS Project (SCAP): http://www.s-cap.org

• TASC 1702 E. Pikes Peak Ave., Colorado Springs, CO: 10 a.m. to 4 p.m.

Tri-County Health Department (TCHD): http://www.tchd.org

Three test sites:

• (May 18) Aurora Central Library, 14949 E. Alameda Pkwy., Aurora, CO: 9 a.m. to 12 p.m.
• TCHD N. Broadway location, 7000 N. Broadway, Suite 400, Denver, CO: 9 a.m. to 12 p.m.
• TCHD Northglenn location, 10190 Bannock St., Suite 100, Northglenn, CO: 3 p.m. to 5:30 p.m.

CDPHE, Hep C Connection, & SCAP:

• Senior Resource Development Authority, 230 N. Union Ave., Pueblo, CO: 1 p.m. to 5 p.m.

Pueblo City-County Health Department & CDPHE: http://county.pueblo.org/government/county/pueblo-city-county-health-department

• Pueblo City-County Health Department, 101 W. 9th St., Pueblo, CO: 1 p.m. to 4 p.m.

Additional resources:

• Hep C Connection: http://www.hepc-connection.org
• Step Up to Hep blog: http://stepuptohepco.wordpress.com
• CDPHE: https://www.colorado.gov/pacific/cdphe/hepatitis
• Health of Denver 2014 report:
  http://denvergov.org/Portals/746/documents/2014%20CHA/Full%20Report-%20FINAL.pdf
• 31 Facts for 31 Days of hepatitis C awareness: https://hepatitisc.net/living/31-facts-for-the-31-days-of-hepatitis-awareness-month/
• OUT of STATE STORY SAMPLE — Putnam County hosting free hepatitis C testing: http://putnam.dailyvoice.com/news/putnam-county-offering-free-hepatitis-c-screening

SOURCE Hep C Connection

Press Release Source:  http://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/may-19-free-hepatitis-c-testing-300083738.html

If I'm Cured of Hepatitis C, When Is It Safe to Drink Again?

Doctors say the answer lies in whether a patient is honest about their alcohol use and how much damage the liver sustained before treatment.

 For some people, a glass of wine with dinner is one of life’s simple pleasures.

For others, however, it’s more of a problem.

Some of them are in denial about their alcohol use. Or maybe they are ashamed of their drinking.
Those types of people often are not honest with a doctor, or themselves, when asked, “How much alcohol do you actually drink?”

Read more...

Variations in Liver Cancer Attributable to Hepatitis Virus Variations

Discovery that hepatitis B and C viruses generate markedly different clinical pathologies highlights potential change in treatment plans for newly diagnosed patients

Newswise — CHICAGO —Significant clinical variations exist among patients with the most common type of liver cancer called hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC), depending on the viral cause of the disease –hepatitis B virus (HBV) or hepatitis C virus (HCV). These differences suggest that hepatitis status should be considered when developing treatment plans for newly diagnosed patients, according to researchers at The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center.

These findings, from the largest single-center studies of its kind will be presented on Sunday, May 31 in an oral presentation at the 2015 Annual Meeting of the American Society of Clinical Oncology (ASCO). The research builds on previous studies of differential effects of demographics, geographical distribution and risk factors, including hepatitis status, on treatment outcomes among patients with inoperable HCC. In these earlier studies, researchers observed different outcomes based on demographics and geographic patients distribution (Asia versus Europe and USA) among patients receiving the same local or systemic therapy approaches. They hypothesized that these differences might be attributed to variations with regard to hepatitis type, among other factors.

Read more....

Indiana drafting county profiles of HIV, hepatitis C rates

Effort aims to help officials detect outbreaks, determine eligibility for needle exchange programs.

State health officials are creating profiles of HIV and hepatitis C rates for all 92 Indiana counties to help local officials detect outbreaks of either disease and determine whether they can seek help under a new needle-exchange law, a top state disease expert said Wednesday.

State epidemiologist Pam Pontones told members of the Indiana State Department of Health's executive board that the agency hopes to quickly complete work on those profiles, which also will include intravenous drug use rates for each county.

Having that data will help county health officials determine whether they're facing an outbreak of either virus and — if it's tied to IV drug use — whether they can request state approval for a needle-exchange program to try to contain that outbreak, she said.

Read more...

Hepatitis C -- The Long Goodbye

The long goodbye is often used to describe the drawn out fading of a person's mind, who is suffering from Alzheimer's disease.

But for my mom, it was because of Hepatitis C.

My mom worked as a hospital lab technician for most of her career. She remembered accidentally sticking her hand, with the contaminated needle of a sick patient.

Read more...

HCV increases mortality among patients with CKD

Veterans with chronic kidney disease and hepatitis C virus infection were found to have an increased rate of mortality, risk of lower kidney function and incidence of loss of kidney function vs. veterans without the infection, according to new study data.

“Hepatitis C affects 4 million Americans [and] previous studies have not established unanimously whether hepatitis C is associated with the development and progression of chronic kidney disease,” Csaba P. Kovesdy, MD, director of the Clinical Outcomes and Clinical Trials Program at Memphis VA Medical Center in Tenn., told Healio.com/Hepatology. “[The study] examined the association of hepatitis C infection with mortality, with the development of new onset chronic kidney disease, with end stage renal disease and with the speed of loss of kidney function in over 1 million U.S. veterans. We found that hepatitis C infection was associated with a significantly increased risk of all these end points.”

Molnar MZ, et al. Hepatology. 2015;doi:10.1002/hep.27664.

Read more...

Sanders Asks VA to Break Patents on Gilead and AbbVie Hep C Drugs

The ongoing debate over the cost of prescription drugs took another twist as U.S. Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-VT.) has asked the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs to use emergency powers to break – or override – the patents on high-priced hepatitis C medicines sold by several drug makers, including Gilead Sciences.


The prices have caused a firestorm as both public and private payers complain the treatments are straining their budgets. Sanders notes the VA stopped enrolling veterans who need treatment for hepatitis C due to budget constraints. The agency has already reallocated $400 million on hepatitis C drugs, but needs additional funding.

“I cannot think of another situation where the government-use provision [of the law that allows the VA to break the patents] should be applied,” Sanders wrote in a letter to Robert McDonald, the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs Secretary. “Our nation’s veterans cannot, and should not, be denied treatment while drug companies rake in billions of dollars in profits.”

Read more....