Hepatitis C Warning For Blood Recipients

Dear editor:

A report issued by a U.S. Congressional Committee (August 5, 1996) urges Americans who received blood transfusions before 1990 to have their blood tested. The reason: an estimated 300,000 of these people have hepatitis C, a silent, deadly disease.

We at the Latino Organization for Liver Awareness (L.O.L.A.) and the American Liver Foundation are taking the Congressional report very seriously, and reiterate: Get tested, if you received a blood transfusion before 1990. You should also know that a blood test alone may not test you for hepatitis: ask your doctor specifically for a hepatitis C antibody test. If you are found to be infected with chronic hepatitis C, there are treatments menu available today that, in many cases, may be effective.

Moreover, the transfusion-related cases of infection are a small proportion of the nearly 5 million U.S. citizens who, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), are estimated to have hepatitis C. Most of these people are unaware that they are infected.

In more than 40 percent of cases of hepatitis C, the means of its transmission is not known, but there are common risk factors that increase your chances of getting hepatitis.

These include:

- body piercing and tattooing with infected needles;

- sharing razors or toothbrushes with an infected person;

- high-risk health care occupations that may involve needle stick or other exposure to blood;

- unprotected sex with multiple partners;

- experimentation with IV drugs or intranasal cocaine.

Hepatitis is usually without symptoms until it has damaged the infected person's liver - usually in the form of cirrhosis or liver cancer. However, some people experience flu-like symptoms such as loss of appetite, nausea and vomiting, fever, weakness, tiredness and mild abdominal pain.

The bottom line is that hepatitis C is now identified as an emerging epidemic in America. It requires the serious attention of the general public and medical community regarding the options for treatment, the options for prevention and, when at risk or in doubt, the critical importance of getting tested.

Anyone wishing free information about hepatitis C can call the Latino Organization for Liver Awareness at (718) 892-8697 or the American Liver Foundation toll-free at 1-888-4-HEP-ABC or 1-800-465-4837.

- Debbie Delgado-Vega
Chairperson Latino Organization for Liver Awareness