Prince George, BC – Positive Living North is asking city residents to take note that today is World Hepatitis Day…

Education Manager, Sandra Sasaki, points out that eight out of every 1000 Canadians are infecged with the Hepatitis C virus and approximately 20- to 25-percent of those people are unaware of their positive status.

Hepatitis C is caused by a virus and is a disorder that mainly targets the liver, although it can lead to other autoimmune disorders and diseases such as diabetes and non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma.  Although the course of the disease is typically slow (20+years), it affects individuals differently and can lead to liver failure or liver cancer.  The Hep C virus (HCV) is transmitted by blood to blood contact.

According to the Hep C Education and Prevention Society, if 100 people contract HCV:

• 15-20 will get rid of it in two to six-months
• 60 people will have a long-term chronic infection
• 20-25 with the long term infection will develop serious liver damage after 20 years

For those born prior to 1965, risk factors include:  having received an organ transplant, blood or blood products prior to 1992 when screening for HCV began; from 1940s-1960s, some mass vaccination devices were occasionally used on groups like school children and soldiers; as well as improperly sterilized medical/dental equipment.

For everyone, risk factors include:

• shared recreational drug equipment
• mother to child transmission during childbirth
• needle prick injuries (ie, hospital or dental office)
• traumatic sport or combat injuries
• rare, but possible, is transmission through the beauty industry, particularly body art such as tattoos and piercings
• sexual transmission is extremely rare in the general population

More information and resources are availabe at www.hepcbc.ca