May 14, 2014 - Curant Health HCV Program Director, Amy Hampton, in Hep Magazine - An estimated 3.2 million Americans have hepatitis C (HCV) and the majority of them don't know it because they haven’t been screened for the disease. In 2012, the CDC adjusted its screening recommendations for HCV to include individuals born between 1945 and 1965 without prior ascertainment of risk for HCV.
According to the Centers for Disease Control (CDC), HCV is responsible for more than 16,000 deaths per year in the United States (more than HIV) and, according to the American Liver Foundation, is also responsible for the majority of the more than 6,000 U.S. liver transplants per year. (Liver transplants cost $575,000 according to the National Foundation for Transplants).
Again according to the CDC (2010), of every 100 persons infected with HCV, approximately:
- 75–85 will go on to develop chronic infection,
- 60–70 will go on to develop chronic liver disease,
- 5–20 will go on to develop cirrhosis over a period of 20–30 years, and
- 1–5 will die from the consequences of chronic infection (liver cancer or cirrhosis).
To read Amy's full article, visit Hep Magazine.
To learn more about Curant Health, contact Kristin Lindsey, Marketing Director, at klindsey@curanthealth.com.