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The FREE tests will only be for those people born from 1945-1965 and
for those people that are considered high risk. You are considered
high risk if you:
• Are a health care worker who has been exposed to infected blood,
such as may happen if an infected needle pierces your skin
• Have ever injected or inhaled illicit drugs
• Have HIV
• Received a piercing or tattoo in an unclean environment using
unsterile equipment
• Received a blood transfusion or organ transplant before 1992
• Received clotting factor concentrates before 1987
• Received hemodialysis treatments for a long period of time
• Were born to a woman with a hepatitis C infection
• Were ever in prison
This free blood test will be available until October 1, 2015 and
will be by appointment only. If you would like a test and were not
born between 1945-1965 and are not considered high risk, the cost of
the test is $40 and can be billed to your insurance company.
Hepatitis C is a chronic infection that affects an estimated 130
million to 150 million people and results in 350,000 to 500,000
deaths a year. Seventy-five percent of the 2.7 million Americans
infected with hepatitis C are baby boomers - persons born between
1945 and 1965. Most are not even aware they are infected. In
addition, most new hepatitis C infections are among injection drugs
users, especially those under age 30. A specific blood test is the
only way to detect the hepatitis C virus.
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The Hepatitis C virus attacks the liver. If left undiagnosed and untreated,
hepatitis C can lead to serious liver disease such as cirrhosis, liver failure
and liver cancer. In recent years, U.S. death rates due to chronic hepatitis C
infection have outpaced death rates due to HIV infection. Hepatitis C is spread
from blood-to-blood contact. The most common risk factors associated with
hepatitis C transmission are injection drug use, blood transfusion, or organ
transplantation prior to 1992. Approximately one-quarter of HIV-infected persons
are also infected with hepatitis C.
The Logan County Department of Public Health is open Monday-Friday from
7:30-4:30. Please call for an appointment 217-735-2317.
[Don Cavi, Public Health
Administrator, Logan County Department of Public Health]
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