Free hepatitis C screenings offered to baby boomers

LINN COUNTY - Baby boomers in Linn County can receive a free screening for hepatitis C through the end of June.

Hepatitis C is a virus that starts as an acute infection and often leads to a chronic infection that can last a lifetime and lead to serious liver problems, including cirrhosis and cancer, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

In 2014, an estimated 30,500 cases of acute hepatitis C were reported in the United States, according to the CDC. An estimated 2.7 million to 3.9 million people in the United States have chronic hepatitis C, the agency reports.

The virus is prevalent among baby boomers - adults born between 1945 and 1965.

To schedule an appointment through Linn County Public Health, call (319) 892-6093.

'If someone comes for a screening, we poke their finger and get a couple drops of blood,” said Heather Meador, senior public health nurse for Linn County Public Health. 'A screening test is about 20 minutes and ... we get the results which dictate the next steps.”

Meador said if the screening is positive, blood will be collected from the patient's arm with results ready within one week. If the results are positive, patients will be referred to their primary health care provider.

Many baby boomers, according to the Iowa Department of Public Health, have lived with hepatitis C for as many as 40 years.

Meador said that if a baby boomer has been previously tested they do not need to be screened again, unless they have participated in activities involving blood-to-blood contact, such as sharing needles.

Based on 2015 statistics reported by the Iowa Department of Public Health, 21,748 Iowans were diagnosed with carrying hepatitis C. It is estimated, however, that there is somewhere between 35,865 to 136,900 Iowans living with the infection.

This is the first time Linn County Public Health has offered free screenings to baby boomers.

'If they have hepatitis C, there is treatment,” Meador said. 'There are options that are better than they used to be. ... We want them to know that if they have this, treatment is an option.

'The earlier this is detected, the better the chance of being treated.”

l Comments: (319) 368-8531; alexandra.connor@thegazette.com