CDC to baby boomers: Get test for hepatitis C

Associated Press

ATLANTA

For the first time, the government is proposing that all baby boomers get tested for hepatitis C.

Anyone born from 1945 to 1965 should get a one-time blood test to see if they have the liver-destroying virus, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said in draft recommendations issued Friday.

Baby boomers account for more than 2 million of the 3.2 million Americans infected with the blood-borne virus. It can take decades to cause liver damage, and many people don’t know they’re infected.

CDC officials believe the new measure could lead 800,000 more baby boomers to get treatment and could save more than 120,000 lives.

Several developments drove the CDC’s push for wider testing, said Dr. John W. Ward, the CDC’s hepatitis chief.

Recent data have shown that from 1999 to 2007, the number of Americans dying from hepatitis C-related diseases nearly doubled. Also, two drugs hit the market last year that promise to cure many more people than previously was possible.

The virus can gradually scar the liver and lead to cirrhosis or liver cancer and is the leading cause of liver transplant. It can trigger damage in other parts of the body as well. All told, more than 15,000 Americans die each year from hepatitis C-related illnesses, according to the CDC.

The virus is most commonly spread today through sharing needles to inject drugs. Before widespread screening of blood donations began in 1992, it also was spread through blood transfusions.