CDC: Baby boomers should get tested for hepatitis C

Associated Press

ATLANTA

All baby boomers should get a one-time blood test to learn if they have the liver-destroying hepatitis C virus, U.S. health officials said Thursday.

It can take decades for the blood-borne virus to cause liver damage and symptoms to emerge, so many people don’t know they’re harboring it. Baby boomers account for about two-thirds of the estimated 3.2 million infected Americans.

More than 15,000 Americans die each year from hepatitis C-related illnesses, and the number has been growing, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

Health officials say baby boomers are five times more likely to be infected than other adults.