I hope so too LG. You would think that in this day and age the medics would have a handle on it but I wonder. It has set me to thinking. How many of the undiagnosed are dying still undiagnosed? HepC just seems to slip through the cracks, again and again. How many opportunities are being missed to trace the contacts of those people and test them?

dt

As in the article that Mike posted, enhanced screening would seem to be one of the cornerstones required for hepC eradication.
Routine screening is already carried out for breast cancer and bowel cancer in some populations, so how hard could it be to have routine screening for hepB and C, at least for the babyboomer generation (born 1945 -65), and preferably for everybody.

I believe that testing for hepC at the moment is entirely voluntary, which means that if you don’t suspect you have it and you don’t go and ask for the hepC antibody test then it will be missed, possibly until it is too late. My hepC was missed when I went to my doc complaining of feeling tired. My bloods all came up within normal limits and that was that. Hepatitis was never mentioned. That I found out at all was a complete fluke. My partner signed up for a wilderness expedition and agreed to have medical checks before he went. Unbeknown to him, the hepC test was one of the checks and it came up positive. BIG shock for both of us, but may have saved both our lives. I was then informed and went to my doc and asked for the test specifically.

After that happened, I contacted people I thought might be at risk. One person went to their STD clinic and asked to be checked ‘for everything’. He was duly checked “for everything’ and all came up clear. So I asked him if he had confirmed with the doc that they had checked for hepC. He hadn’t. On return to that clinic he found out he had NOT been tested for hepC. He had to ask specifically for the test. Asking ‘for everything’ did not get it done.

I cite these examples from my own experiences to show how utterly easy it is to have hepC and for it to be missed. Leaving the test as simply a voluntary test for a person to ask for if they think they might have hepC, DOES NOT WORK. People don’t suspect they have it. Or they assume that if a doc takes their blood then it will automatically be found. Or they assume that if hepC is indicated then the doc will suggest the test. But hepC very often does not show symptoms which indicate it, and many people have it who have never had a so-called risky lifestyle.

I’m willing to bet that this poor woman who I knew had never even heard of hepC, let alone suspected she might have it. Or she might have seen a call for testing on an ad on a bus stop and never in a million years associated it with herself. Routine mass screening is required, and the message to get tested needs to be put out there in a much more effective manner so that it reaches people like her.

dt

There is one way to get tested for people who do not want to walk in to their doc or clinic and ask.
You can donate blood.
All blood donations are now screened. If there is something wrong with your blood you will be notified. If it is fine then all that goes on your medical record is that you donated blood.

Mike, very courageous of you to ‘come out’ about it. That certainly helps to raise awareness and hopefully bring more people to get tested.
However not everybody feels ready for this level of disclosure. It is understandable if a person does not want to go and ask for the test because they might be asked awkward questions about why they think they might have hepC.

Nobody should feel that they need to disclose anything they do not wish to, in order to get their blood tested for hepC.
dt