Hep C test for baby boomers ages 51-69 - Page 2

NickNack · ‎03-10-2010

My doctor suggested I have it last year at my annual exam. I didn't see how I could possibly have Hep C but did have the test, and it was negative. My insurance paid for it.

The Bluebird Carries The Sky On His Back"
-Henry David Thoreau

Fifi1 · ‎03-10-2010

Boomer here, both dh and i have been tested. We were both considered low risk but our dr's want everyone in the age group screened as Hep C is treatable if positive. Our insurance paid for testing, and we both just added it during our yearly blood work/physicals.

Evie2004 · ‎09-09-2010

If you have no risk factors, this is an unnecessary test. don't be scared into getting it done..and officially, baby boomers were born from 1946-1964.

noodleann · ‎06-10-2015

@maestra wrote:
blood screening didnt begin until 1992.
Intravenous drug users would sell blood tainted w/drugs and blood products became contaminated.

If you had a blood transfusion, Armed Services vaccinations w/air syringes there was cross contamination for this age group-born 1940-1965, or had blood products during a medical procedure/surgery. Tattoos were problematic as well.

HepC is a serious virus-all boomers should be tested since there is a cure.

The other risk factor is having intimate relations with someone who may carry the virus. That can transmit it, and is why even people who've never had a surgery or a tattoo or piercing shoulld consider getting tested unless they've been celibate their entire lives.

CatLoverDogsToo · ‎03-10-2010

If you had the Rhogam injection, apparently that is also a risk. I had that injection three times because I am Rh negative and my ex-husband Rh positive. So I suppose I will have to go and get that test. I believe this particular risk is mostly for the women that had the Rhogam injections before 1992. I knew there were risks before I agreed to have Rhogam, but the benefits far outweighed the risks.

“The price of light is less than the cost of darkness.”
– Arthur C. Nielsen

SilleeMee · ‎05-22-2016

Boomers at risk because of the lifestyle back in the day...experimentation and exploration both sexual and substance. Innocent people were exposed. I was tested years ago when I found out my husband (now ex) tested positive when he tried to donate blood.

maestra · ‎03-09-2010

@SilleeMee wrote:
Boomers at risk because of the lifestyle back in the day...experimentation and exploration both sexual and substance. Innocent people were exposed. I was tested years ago when I found out my husband (now ex) tested positive when he tried to donate blood.

This has been shown through recent study to be a myth put out by the CDC to protect itself against lawsuits for a contaminated blood supply and remiss medical sterilization of surgical instruments.

Ask Vietnam vets, and physicians from that time. My own physician agreed.

RedTop · ‎09-01-2010

Zero risk for me, but as a donor for whole blood and platelets, my blood is tested yearly.

SilleeMee · ‎05-22-2016

Back in the early 90s I was involved in developing and testing the screening procedure for Hep C. At the time of development the test for Hep C was only 95% sensitive. In other words, out of 100 bags of donor blood tested, 5 bags tested falsely negative and were given a pass to be safe for transfusion. This of course is not what is is today and testing has vastly improved resulting in a safe blood supply. The CDC was never at fault for the lack of reliable testing. It was the lack of technology that made hep C "invisible". No institution was ever to blame for the spread of of the virus or the negligence of it being spread.