Hepatitis C Killing more than HIV

Hepatitis C Killing more than HIV | Deaths due to hepatitis C infection continue to rise, even beyond death from HIV. Contributing factor is that most people do not realize they are infected with hepatitis C.

This is look real in the United States. According to data from years 1999 - 2007 are reported by the Center for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) USA. Highest mortality occurred in the productive age.

According to CDC officials, approximately 3.2 million Americans infected with hepatitis C, a major cause of liver cancer and cirrhosis (hardening of the liver). An estimated one-third of adults infected are unaware they are infected because the disease progression is slowly.

Hepatitis C is transmitted through the use of unsterile needles, blood transfusion, and sexual relations. In some cases, transmission may also occur from mother to fetus.

"Chronic hepatitis is the leading cause of preventable premature death. However early detection and intervention of this disease can be cheaper and save the life," said Dr.Scott Holmberg, chairman of the CDC's division of viral hepatitis.

The latest study to determine the number of cases of hepatitis in the United States published in the Annals of Internal Medicine.

Recent data shows deaths from hepatitis C reached 15,000, exceeding the number of HIV deaths 13,000. Death is also most happened in many middle-aged people.

"Approximately 73 percent of deaths from hepatitis C occurs in people aged 45-64 years," said Holmberg. According Dr.Eugene Schiff, director of the Center for Liver Disease, the current treatment of hepatitis became one can not be tolerated," he said.

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