Educate and inform the public about prevention for the three forms of hepatitis

Educate and inform those with the virus about treatment options

Reach people through support systems that show them that we need to work together

Hepatitis Ready Care-Facts

  • 10% of all veterans have hepatitis

  • Hepatitis C is 10 times more infectious than HIV

  • Hepatitis C is less infectious than hepatitis B

  • Almost two thirds of current injecting drug users have hepatitis

  • One third of all injecting drug users under the age of 25 have hepatitis

  • Hepatitis C is the leading cause for liver transplantation in adults.

These facts point to the difficulty of testing, treatment and recognition of this disease:

  • A person who has tested positive for the hepatitis C virus can’t go forward with the treatment until they have additional blood tests. There are no government agencies or private resources in our area that will pay for these. Although they could be treated, these patients can’t get into treatment because of this one hurdle.

  • Eight out of ten people with hepatitis C are unaware they have it. The symptoms are very often silent until irreparable damage has been done to the liver.
Transmission Risk

A time to be concerned would be if:

  • You have ever had any body piercing, tattoos, or manicures performed under conditions that were not sterile.

  • You have shared a razor, a toothbrush, or nail clippers with an infected person.

  • You currently or have previously injected drugs-----even if only once!

  • You have ever been on long-term kidney dialysis.

  • You have had vaccinations administered with pneumatic jet injectors.

  • You are a health care worker that has been exposed to needle sticks.

  • You are infected and giving birth ~ the risk of transmitting the disease from mom to baby is 5%.

  • You have served time in prison ~ the rate of infection goes up by 10-20% among the prison population.

 



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