Hepatitis C: The Silent Killer

Ella Van Fleet spent 20 years building a high-powered career as a teacher, manager and consultant. She once was honored by the Texas House of Representatives for outstanding professional contributions. Yet the Phoenix resident's life took a dramatic turn when a silent disease caught up with her. "I felt fine until the holiday shopping season in 1996, when I found I could not walk from my car to the store without getting tired and winded," Van Fleet says. "It gradually got worse until my husband insisted I go to the hospital. It was there that I was diagnosed with hepatitis C." "The hardest part for me was the anger and hopelessness I felt with the diagnosis," says Van Fleet, who was infected during a blood transfusion in 1986. "I had to learn how to not look back, but instead to focus on what I have in the present." Van Fleet is not alone. An estimated 100,000 Arizonans have hepatitis C, a viral infection that causes inflammation of the liver, and is a leading cause of cirrhosis, liver transplants and liver cancer in the U.S. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention estimates that approximately 4.1 million Americans have been infected with the virus. Since 1999, the Arizona Department of Health Services has received over 73,000 reported cases of individuals infected with hepatitis C. Five hundred million people worldwide are currently infected with hepatitis B or C. This is over 10 times the number infected with HIV/AIDS. Between them, hepatitis B and C kill 115 million people a year. One in every three people on the planet has been exposed to either or both viruses. Most of the 500 million don't know they are infected. Van Fleet's experience with the virus is not uncommon. hepatitis C has been called "The Silent Killer" because individuals often have no symptoms until up to 20 years after they are infected. In most cases, the virus has already caused liver damage at this point. "Approximately 70% of people who are infected don't know it," says Dr. David Winston, Director of Gastroenterology and Hepatology at CIGNA Healthcare in Sun City. "This allows for the possibility of more and more people becoming infected with the virus every day." Hepatitis C is transmitted by blood-to-blood contact. Van Fleet believes she was infected with the virus by a blood transfusion in 1986 as a result of complications from back surgery. People that are considered to be at highest risk and at need for immediate testing include: * Recipients of blood, blood products, or organ donations before 1992 * Past or present intravenous drug users and intranasal drug users (even if only one time) * Health care workers or emergency response personnel who have had blood exposures * Recipients of tattoos and body piercings performed with un-sterilized equipment "There is a lot of misinformation about hepatitis C out there," says Dr. Winston. "Many people believe you can get it by kissing, drinking or eating after someone, and this simply is not the case." Another common misconception he sees among his patients is the belief that there is nothing that can be done about the virus. "Depending on the type of hepatitis C virus you have, current treatments are effective over 50% of the time. That's better odds than Vegas!" he says. Dr. Winston recommends those who are at risk to get tested, and those who are diagnosed with the virus to ask their doctor about treatment. "The treatment for hepatitis C is good, and the future looks even brighter," he says. "On the other hand, if nothing is done, thousands and thousands of people will develop cirrhosis and severe liver disease." Van Fleet, who now works as a consultant, received a liver transplant in January 1998 and has recently undergone treatment. Her viral load is now undetectable. "I have been given a second chance at life, and it all looks different the second time around," she says. "When you face death, as I have many times with hepatitis C, you realize that nothing is more important than your health, your family and friends." For more information about hepatitis C or for referrals to testing services, call the Arizona Department of Health Services at (602) 364-3658 or 1-800-496-9660 (outside Maricopa County) or visit azdhs.gov/phs/oids/hepc/.