Every baby boomer in B.C. and across Canada should seek a blood test for the hepatitis C virus in light of a landmark medical study released Thursday, urges one of B.C.’s foremost experts in disease prevention.
That’s because the peak infection rate for people born between 1945 and 1964 has been found to coincide with five-year-olds in 1950 who were infected by inadequately sterilized needles used in health-care settings, not in 1965, with teens and young adults engaging in high-risk sex and drug-related behaviour involving the exchange of blood.
“Any baby boomer could be living with HCV [hepatitis C virus] even in the absence of symptoms or any history of high risk behaviours, and as such they should be encouraged to proactively seek HCV testing,” said Dr. Julio Montaner, director of the B.C. Centre of Excellence. The B.C. centre undertook the study with the U.S. Centers for Disease Control.
“One of the reasons why we focus on baby boomers is that they represent 75 per cent of people infected with hep C, regardless of risk groups,” said Cynthia Carter, a Saanich volunteer with the B.C. Hepatitis C Education and Prevention Society.
Many baby boomers were vaccinated around age five, she noted, before hepatitis C was identified or disposable needles became the norm.
The sex and drug link has led to a long and serious stigma against testing among so-called low-risk groups, the upshot being that 44 per cent of Canadians with hep C have no idea they are infected and spreading the virus, according to the Public Health Agency of Canada.