Health department begins hepatitis C testing

The city of St. Joseph Health Department is now offering testing for hepatitis C.

The $10 test informs people whether they have been exposed to the hepatitis C virus and are exhibiting symptoms. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention describe hepatitis C as a liver disease caused by the hepatitis C virus. It can be mild to serious, lasting from a few weeks to a lifelong illness.

According to the CDC, those born between 1945 and 1965 are at a higher risk of contracting the bloodborne virus because of the high rates of hepatitis C during the 1970s and ’80s and the relaxed blood-handling procedures.

“The sooner you get into care, the better your outcome is,” said Kelly Kibirige, community health services supervisor at the St. Joseph Health Department. “There are treatment options that we haven’t had in the past, so it is really important to get in before there is that potential for liver cancer or a liver transplant. We know that hepatitis C is the leading cause of liver cancer and liver transplants.”

Of the more than 3 million people with hepatitis C, 75 percent were born between 1945 and 1965, according to the city health department.

The department especially encourages people to get tested if they have shared needles or had a blood transfusion before 1992, when stricter blood testing standards were enacted.