A survey of nearly 5,000 hepatitis C patients found that three-quarters were born between 1945 and 1965—the post-war baby boom years—and almost half had not been screened until symptoms surfaced.
"When they do become aware of their infection, they already have symptoms such as jaundice, and they have abnormal lab tests," said report co-author Dr. Stephen Ko, of the division of viral hepatitis at the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
Hepatitis C—a leading cause of liver disease and liver cancer—is considered a silent killer because it progresses without any indications of illness. Unlike other types of hepatitis, there is no vaccine for hepatitis C. An estimated 3.9 million U.S. residents have the infection.
Since 1998, the CDC has advised doctors to test high-risk individuals, including injection drug users and dialysis patients. The agency expanded its recommendation in 2012 to include everyone born between 1945 and 1965 because there is such a high prevalence in that age group. Last June, the U.S. Preventive Services Task Force also recommended routine screening for all adults born in that timeframe, along with injection drug users and anyone who got a blood transfusion before 1992.
Others who need the simple blood test include health care workers and children born to mothers with a hepatitis C infection, Ko said.
