CDC Calls for Hepatitis C Screening for “Boomer” Generation (1945-1965)
The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention announced new age-based screening recommendations for chronic viral Hepatitis C infection targeted to Americans born between 1945 and 1965. The new recommendations come after February’s publication in Annals of Internal Medicine of CDC data that deaths from Hepatitis C are on the rise, with three-quarters of the 2007 deaths among those born in the “Baby Boom” generation. Deaths from Hepatitis C now exceed deaths from AIDS, according to the CDC. “These new CDC recommendations promise to change these trends by identifying individuals who may not realize that they are infected and thereby allow for earlier treatment. New treatments for Hepatitis C are more effective than ever in curing the infection, and may halt progression to cirrhosis, liver failure, liver cancer and death” commented ACG President Lawrence R. Schiller, MD, FACG.