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Let’s talk about some of the ways people can get infected by the hepatitis C virus. Remember that hepatitis C is transmitted by blood, which means that your blood would have to come into contact with something that contains the virus. If your skin gets punctured by a needle contaminated with the virus, whether intentionally or unintentionally, you could get the infection that way. Another example is getting tattooed in an unlicensed facility where the equipment may be reused and not sanitized properly. If you received blood transfusion prior to 1992, when we did not know that hepatitis C existed and that we needed to screen for it, it is also highly recommended that you get tested as well. Now, I want to talk about the baby boomers for a minute, because this is one population we have been focusing on our screening efforts. According to the CDC, anyone born between the year 1945 to 1965 should get screened for hepatitis C, at least once in their lifetime. This is because one out of every 100 baby boomers is found to be positive for hepatitis C, a much higher percentage than any other age groups, at least five times higher. We don’t know for sure why this is the case, but we suspect that it could be due to the lifestyle that some of the baby boomers led when they were younger, especially during the seventies and eighties.
