Baby boomers should take themselves to a physician to be tested for 鈥� so says the US government, which that anyone born between 1945 and 1965 should get tested for the virus.
Hepatitis C . Transmitted by blood, it is the leading cause of liver transplants. An estimated 3.2 million Americans are thought to be infected 鈥� three quarters of them baby boomers, who are of having caught the virus through drug use or receiving a blood transfusion before widespread screening for the virus became available in 1992.
By taking a one-off blood test, the predicts that 800,000 new infections will be identified and 120,000 hepatitis-related deaths avoided in this age group.
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Most people with the virus show no symptoms, but around 15,000 people die of it each year 鈥� a large percentage through scarring of the liver. A relatively new can cure around 79 per cent of people with the disease. A spokesperson for the CDC said that the cost of detecting and treating this group of people would be similar to that of testing and treating high cholesterol.
