Health officials: Baby boomers need testing for hepatitis C

A new study shows that baby boomers are still not getting recommended tests for hepatitis C, a virus that can lead to liver failure or liver cancer.

Researchers say people born between 1945 and 1965, the so-called baby-boomer generation, are five times more likely to get hepatitis C than other age groups. But the reason the virus is much more likely among baby boomers is not clear, scientists say.

Hepatitis C is transmitted through contact with the blood of someone who is infected, Chattanooga-Hamilton County Health Department epidemiologist Bev Fulbright said, so it could have spread through contaminated blood at a time before there was widespread screening of the blood supply. Or it could have been spread by infected medical equipment or procedures used before hospitals began to realize the potential for their own actions to spread the virus.

Since 2013, the federal government has been recommending that all baby boomers get blood tests to determine if they have been exposed to hepatitis C. If a test is positive, a second test is given to determine the actual presence of hepatitis C.

But a study released Wednesday concluded that only 13.8 percent of all baby boomers have gotten a hepatitis C test, up only slightly from the 12 percent level when the warning was first issued three years ago.

The test is necessary because early on there often are few symptoms that someone has hepatitis C, said Randy Van Olson, hepatitis C coordinator at the health department. If symptoms occur, they may be vague — “a very general malaise, abdominal pain or discomfort, poor appetite, or feeling tired,” Van Olson said.

Van Olson, a registered nurse, meets with clients who test positive for hepatitis C to offer counseling and guidance in navigating the local health care environment to get proper treatment.

Health department officials said anyone in the target age group should see a family or primary care doctor for the screening test, which should be covered by most health insurance policies.

There will also be an opportunity for a free screening in early April in Bradley County.

The Remote Area Medical clinic will be available on April 1 and April 2 at Cleveland High School, offering screening for hepatitis C, as well as pap smears, HIV testing, and dental and vision exams.

The clinic is free for everyone, no matter what county or state they live in, but it is often crowded.

The last time such a clinic was offered in Cleveland, in 2010, people began lining up the previous afternoon, said Sherry Park, co-director of the clinic.

Test results from the hepatitis C screening are available in about 20 minutes, Park said. In previous clinics offered elsewhere in East Tennessee, between 9 and 10 percent of those tested showed up positive for exposure to virus, she said.

In a major breakthrough, researchers several years ago discovered a cure for hepatitis C, a pill that must be taken daily for 12 weeks. The cure rate is 95 percent with almost no side effects, but the treatment is expensive, typically costing between $60,000 and $80,000 in the U.S.