Hepatitis C Warning
Hundreds of thousands of patients who had received blood transfusions
before 1992 will be sent letters from the US government, warning them of
possible exposure to the hepatitis C virus. The letter urges recipients
to
be tested for hepatitis C, and stresses the importance of receiving
treatment. The virus -- which affects four million Americans -- can
cause
fatal liver damage and has no cure. However, they are some effective
treatments available to patients, who are diagnosed before liver damage
reaches a chronic level. According to government experts, new screening
tests implemented after 1990 have ensured that there is only a
1-in-10,000
to 1-in-100,000 chance of contracting hepatitis C through transfusion.
Hepatitis C can cause cirrhosis of the liver and cancer.
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