May is Hepatitis awareness month. Viral hepatitis, including hepatitis A, hepatitis B and hepatitis C, are a group of distinct diseases that affect the liver. Individually each one has different symptoms and each one is treated differently. “Hepatitis is a disease that everyone has heard of, but so many people know very little about,” claims Christine Stinson, the administrator of the Marshall County Health Department. “One way to bring about Hepatitis Awareness is to encourage everyone to know their Hepatitis C status. The test for Hepatitis C is very simple and only take 20 minutes to get the test results. What makes it even better is, at the Marshall County Health Department it is free.”
The Marshall County Health Department is planning an event focusing on Hepatitis C. Hepatitis C can be acute or chronic. Acute hepatitis infection symptoms include nausea, vomiting, weight loss, abdominal pain and jaundice. Hepatitis C that develops into chronic hepatitis C can last a lifetime with no visible symptoms, and 50% of chronically infected persons can develop cirrhosis or cancer of the liver
People at high risk:
- Recipients of clotting factors made before 1987
- Hemodialysis patients
- Recipients of blood and/or solid organs before 1992
- People with undiagnosed liver problems
- Injecting drug users
- Healthcare workers
- Baby Boomers
The Marshall County Health Department will offer FREE Hepatitis C screening from 9am to 4pm weekdays with No Appointment Necessary
