WHO GETS HEPATITIS?
People who have ever had blood transfusions or blood products before screening was introduced (1990), and people who have ever shared injecting equipment for drugs should be tested for the hepatitis C virus. Other people who should consider having the test done are those who have been tattooed, had body piercing or a needlestick injury. People with abnormal liver function tests with no apparent cause would also benefit from having a hepatitis C antibody test. Healthcare workers who perform “exposure prone procedures” should also be tested. Hepatitis C currently causes between 150,000 and 250,000 new cases of chronic infection in the United States each year. Hemophiliacs and intravenous drug users are at the greatest risk, but anyone, of any status or age, and in any walk of life, is at risk for acquiring the hepatitis C virus. Researchers have found that many people infected with hepatitis C dont even know it. From 20 to 40 percent of patients in inner-city hospitals are infected, as a
