In August 2012, the big news in the hepatitis community was a new set
of CDC guidelines recommending that all Baby Boomers (those born between
1945 and 1965) receive a hepatitis C test. According to the CDC, at
that time, more than two million U.S. baby boomers were infected with
hepatitis C (HCV), representing approximately 75% of all HCV-infected
individuals and the vast majority of the 15,000 people who would die of
HCV-related causes that year.
The goal of universal testing for this age cohort was to help
identify more than 800,000 additional HCV-infected individuals, who had
not yet been diagnosed.
A lot has changed in the last two and a half years. "With the new
treatments, people are excited about being treated and cured," Alan
Franciscus, founder and executive director of the Hepatitis C Support
Project and editor-in-chief of the HCV Advocate, told BioPharma Dive in
an interview. "Prior to the approval of interferon-free therapies, there
was usually a reluctance from patients—maybe a better word is fear—of
treatment."
Read more...Labels: alan franciscus, inteviews, new testing guidelines, WHD