Thank you so much for bringing to the attention of your readers and educating them on the subject of hepatitis C (“Hepatitis C’s time bomb ticks; Researchers fear ultimate toll may surpass AIDS,” Page 1, Dec. 1).
I am presently under medication for being one of the millions who has the virus and had no idea for 20-some years since this is not part of the normal blood-testing screening.
As a result, I had damage to my liver, my liver enzymes were elevated and the virus was finally tested for after it became active.
I would like to encourage anyone going for a blood test to ask to be screened for Hepatitis C, especially if you had a blood transfusion before 1992.
This should become part of the regular blood-testing program, as is done for cholesterol, etc.
The medication I am presently on is working, but many patients are not as lucky.
Any type of alcohol along with the presence of the hepatitis C virus will advance the damage to the liver many times faster.
I hope the article written by the Tribune will enhance the awareness of this very prevalent problem.
This is a stealth virus, and the symptoms can be very minimal, but the results can be life threatening.
