The silent rise of hepatitis C: By the numbers

The cost of screening for hepatitis C ($2900 stated above) is totally bogus. The lab test is about $100.

Diagnosed Hep C 2011 - In Dec 2011, I chose a clinical trial study where I get the 2 FDA drugs, PEG & Ribivarin, Plus either 2 study drugs or 1 study drug & 1 placebo. I have received excellent treatment. My Viral Load went from 19.9million on my 1st lab test to undetectable by week 4 & still undectable after 7 additional weeks, I am week 11 of treatment. Imay get to stop all meds next week, if not then certainly by week 24. The side effect has mainly been slight fatigue. I was terrified to start treatment from reading about all the possible side effects but the alternative (no treatment) wasn't good. I followed the study guidelines on taking the meds & made all adjustments needed in my diet, drank water (1/2 my weight in ounces) daily, stopped soda's, etc.I responded very well to the treatment. I never used IV drugs & do not fit the profile on most ways of transmission so my infection has to be from blood at surgery in 1972 (41 yrs ago) or a tattoo in the last 10 years. Good Luck and don't let your fears keep you from treatment.

I have Hep C, don't know how I got it. I have been taking Ultra Milk Thistle and
my viral count has gone down from 26 million to 18 million in 6 months.

The cost of a CDC and FDA approved rapid hep C antibody test is about $20. If reactive, the follow-up viral load test is less than $100.

More deaths from Hep C than from HIV and only a fraction of the research dollars.

Part of Hep C screening cost will come from having a Liver biopsy to see how much damaged has been done to the liver.

I tested positive during a routine physical and waited about 8 yrs before intense treatment was recommended(initially the success rate was ESTIMATED to be around 40 pct.----it was around 70 when I finally started treatment) and it was HARSH!! I had to start over after the first 5 months because I became anemic-- the dosage had to be adjusted upward and more drugs added to combat the anemia; the peak of my misery came when I found myself lying on my deck in 95 degree weather(direct sunlight) clothed in sweatpants and sweatshirt wrapped in a sleeping bag and still shivering so hard I thought my spine would snap. Treatment was supposed to take 11 months--I had to do 18. I finished treatment Jan. 2011 and still have intense joint pain from the interferon --BUT, I'm definitely getting stronger and I'm glad I didn't give up----my follow ups have all tested negative. Treatment SUCKS, but it can have good results so hang in there!! Drug regimens are being developed that don't rely on interferon and should make treatment more tolerable.

Have you ever seen the large proportion of people with tatoos and piercings? Most of these are not drug users, but there are needles employed in these procedures and effective sterilization of the tools and ink employed in the procedures is spotty. Hep C virus can survive for long periods in multi-use tatoo ink vials and in the nooks and crannies of tatoo pens.

$2900 for the test? Come to Thailand the test costs a little over $100. Then you can spend the rest of your day at the beach and eating spicy food.

Start drinking bottle water and not from the tap. Water that's been purified. Our water supply is not safe check it out yourself.

I got hep-c from a blood transfusion after getting shot in Viet Nam. As it turns out, the hep-c is more deadly than the bullet wounds.

My son has hepatitis C and is dieing so I went into the hospital to be tested it cost 200. for the test so where they get 2900? They went to the wrong hospital. My other son and his wife and everyone else who knew this girl who gave it to him and then died from the disease. They mentioned sharing needles, he said, "mother i never shot up but I had sex with Nina. Who he found out later she had hepatitis C when she died of the disease. They also say they turn yellow. He never did and he went in for a blood test which they charged him 182. blood test that told he had the disease. Then they did sonogram and found he had cirrorous of the liver and after doing a biopsy found he had early stage liver cancer. So before you say I can't afford the test ask around none of us paid that much for the test.
If they catch it early it will save your life.

I work for the VA and I'm shocked by the high percentage or U.S. Veterans with Hepatitis C.

"hepatitis C, a liver disease commonly spread through shared needles." Yes that can be true, BUT IT IS NOT JUST FROM SHARING NEEDLES as many people are led to believe. I have hepatitis c and never shared needles. There are MANY ways to spread the disease and neele sharing is just one of MANY ways. Did you know that if you have an open wound and accidently come in contact with a drop of blood on, let's just for example say, a kitchen counter where someone cut themself preparing food 72 hours before, you can contract hep c? The disease can remain viable for that long outside the human boday. It has been proven that you can contract it through contact with fecal matter from an infected person. That includes anal sex, but can also include someone cleaning a bathroom, working in sewer plants, and any other way you can contact human feces. Contact with saliva or tears from an infected person can also cause you to contract the disease. Albeit, you do have to either ingest the disease or directly expose it to your blood stream, there are many ways to contract it. Just because someone has this terrible disease, don't condem them by assuming they are intravenous drug users. It was found that I contracted it, along with many others, when a sewer line at my place of employment was accidently connected to the potable water supply. It was ingested at the water fountain. It was a horrible thing to find out, absolutely disgusting. Unfortunately I found out how and where I got it too late to file suit against because of the statute of limitations in the state where I live. I failed the interferon and ribovarin therapy which almost killed me in itself. I will eventually die from this disease, through no fault of my own. When I contracted it in the 90's there was hepatitis A and B and what they called "non-A-non-B" It wasn't even called C yet. Now there are many, many genomes, and they discover more about this disease everyday.

Thanks to the many of you who have commented on HepC! Your personal knowledge and experiences have, in my opinion, been more informative and relevant than the above article.

If I come down with Hep C...it's gonna be bad, real bad for all those jerks listed in my little black book!!!

Who says casual drug use doesn't have a cost ...

Interferon causes long-term permanent and severe neurological damage.

Terrible "article". Looks more like notes that are not well researched.

The people I know who have this disease used meth intravenously and shared needles, the treatment is nearly as bad as the disease. If you think you may have been exposed you should really be tested - it's not a disease you should ignore!