The 'We Treat Hep C' initiative working to eliminate the disease in Chippewa County
SAULT STE. MARIE — Health officials in Chippewa County are looking to increase education, testing, prevention and treatment of hepatitis C as part of a national effort.
In July 2020, the State of Michigan began the "We Treat Hep C" initiative to combat the spread of hepatitis.
Hepatitis affects millions of people all over the world and can lead to complications and other health risks such as acute and chronic liver disease. Hepatitis C is a viral infection that causes liver damage and is transferred through contaminated blood and sexual encounters.
When the initiative began, much of the U.S. was dealing with the COVID-19 pandemic and because of that were not able to focus fully on the hepatitis program. Recently, the Chippewa County Health Department began to increase their education and treatment awareness programs for hepatitis in Chippewa County.
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"Because of COVID there was a delay in getting it off the ground, I was only able to turn my attention to it this spring. So we're really trying to get the word out to people and expanding our testing and educational services," said medical director Catherine Wilkerson. "Just in the last few weeks we already have had several people who have initiated care with me at the health department."
Hepatitis became the focus of this initiative because it is possible and even likely to have hepatitis and be capable of spreading it without knowing or showing any symptoms. Some patients can have the disease without knowing it until it has already caused liver damage.
According to the Michigan Department of Health and Human Services, as many as 115,000 people in Michigan are known to have hepatitis C and as many as 85,000 more are likely to have it without even knowing.
"There are so many people out there who have hepatitis C and don't know it," said Wilkerson. "Every 18-year-old person should be tested at least once because people don't always know the risk or know they have it and it's curable."
While hepatitis C is curable by using a drug treatment over several weeks, hepatitis A and B do have their own vaccines, making the need for education on the topic more important.
"Over 95 percent of people can be cured in 8 or 12 weeks of treatment with drugs," said Wilkerson.
In an effort to help educate people more about the illness, the Chippewa County Health Department suggests people attend educational discussions. There was one such discussion called "Walking in Two Worlds: An Interactive Discussion" on Monday at the Applebee's restaurant in Sault Ste. Marie.
"It's a huge issue for public health, we're trying to prevent the spread of a virus that cannot be prevented with vaccines, but can be prevented with education," said Wilkerson. "We can stop the spread and prevent those people who have it and don't know about it from developing liver failure, all the other complications."
To schedule an appointment or to learn more information about hepatitis C, call the Chippewa County Health Department at (906)-635-3572.
Contact Brendan Wiesner: BWiesner@Sooeveningnews.com
This article originally appeared on The Sault News: Chippewa County is participating in a hepatitis C treatment initiative
