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Baby Boomers Need to Get Tested for Hepatitis C: CDC

by Kathy Jones on Aug 17 2012 8:55 PM

 Baby Boomers Need to Get Tested for Hepatitis C: CDC
The US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has recommended that all of the baby boomers should get themselves tested for hepatitis C virus as they are five times more likely to be infected with the virus compared to others.
The CDC said that a widespread screening for the virus could identify 800,000 new cases in people born between 1945 and 1965. A person can be infected with the hepatitis C virus without any signs or symptoms of the infection as it could take decades for the virus to cause any noticeable liver damage.

Over 17,000 new cases of hepatitis C infection are diagnosed with the US every year and the number of deaths caused due to the infection has more than doubled between 1999 and 2007. CDC Director Dr. Thomas Frieden said that unless immediate steps are not taken to identify people who have the infection, the death rate will continue to climb.

Source-Medindia


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