|
Hepatitis C affects millions of people in the world and the number of those infected is growing rapidly and steadily.
Millions of North Americans are affected, about 300,000 of them Canadian.
“About 70 per cent of them don’t even know it,” said Kay Long, the
hepatitis C program officer with Lethbridge HIV Connection. “There’s an
epidemic going on around the world.”
Long will be spearheading a project to increase awareness about
hepatitis C in order to help prevent the disease and develop peer
support networks for those affected. She’s also available to counsel
anyone with hepatitis C.
“People just diagnosed will go through a period of grieving,” Long said.
She will take her message to the correctional centre, the Lethbridge
Shelter and Resource Centre, and treatment centres in the region.
Long has already started a program called Doodle Art at the shelter
Thursdays from 10 a.m. to 1 p.m. She provides not only the equipment
for people to express themselves through art, but also information and
education about hepatitis C and HIV.
“The number one way hepatitis C is transmitted is through intravenous drug use,” Long said.
In the majority of cases, sharing needles has transmitted the disease
but it can also be spread when infected drug users share water.
“Any fluid with a particle of blood in it can spread hepatitis C,” she said.
It can be spread through sex if blood is involved and through fighting if the skin gets broken.
Some medical professionals or police officers have contracted the
illness by accidentally getting poked by a needle in the course of
their work.
“Unfortunately, we were spreading it through the blood supply until the
early ’90s when they found a way to test donated blood for hepatitis C.”
The hepatitis C virus can reside in the liver for 20 years before any
symptoms occur. The virus eventually starts replicating and mutating in
the liver, causing symptoms such as fatigue and nausea. Other symptoms
can include jaundice, dark urine or a change in stool colour. Most
people with hepatitis C develop fibrosis or liver scarring from the
disease. Out of 100 people with the disease, five to 20 will develop
cirrhosis, while another four in 100 will develop liver cancer.
While vaccines for hepatitis A and B have been developed, Long said no
vaccine is possible for hepatitis C since the virus constantly mutates.
Liver transplants are possible, as is treatment for those who qualify.
Minimizing stress, exercising, eating a good diet, getting adequate
rest and having a stable lifestyle also help.
The project is funded through the Public Health Agency of Canada. To
arrange a presentation or for more information call Long at the
Lethbridge HIV Connection at 328-8186.
http://www.lethbridgeherald.com/article_10867.php
 |
News 
Subscribe to this comment's feed