Alarming new study highlights Hepatitis C epidemic

DENVER — Health experts call it “a silent epidemic.”

Hepatitis C deaths are on the rise, and new data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention shows baby boomers are most at-risk.

Denver resident Rich Arno was diagnosed with Hepatitis C in 1999.

“I knew something was wrong, or I suspected for a while,” he told us. “I checked with a couple different doctors, but there was so little information at that time.”

Arno said he went to a bookstore and, at that time, found only one resource.

“It was called ‘Hepatitis C, The Silent Killer. It just didn’t sound too good.”

Arno says he contracted the virus from sharing needles with other intravenous drug users years before he was diagnosed.

A new study from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention shows one of every 33 baby boomers are living with Hep C, and most don’t even realize it.

“At first, it was a little daunting,” recalls Arno of his diagnosis. “Once I began to get accurate information, I realized it`s not a death sentence. A lot of people live out their lives with Hepatitis C.”

Dr. Scott Miner from Lutheran Medical Center in Denver suggests anyone who thinks they may be at risk should have a conversation with their primary care physician.

“If they can be identified, then there are therapies that are worth pursuing or considering pursuing that reduce the long term damage to the liver this type of infection can cause,” Dr. Miner said.

Rich Arno agrees. New drugs were approved just last year, and Arno says they offer hope.

“It`s been 9 months and I’m still virus free.”

For more information on Hepatitis C and to schedule a free test by appointment, you can call The Hep C Connection at 1-800-522-4372, or visit their website:

http://www.hepc-connection.org/