Is hepatitis C curable? Read on.

Poorly understood and often stigmatized, Hepatitis C is often considered the red-headed stepchild of maladies.

But people have been clamoring to learn more about it in recent days as news broke that Kristin Diane Parker, a scrub technician with the disease, allegedly exposed patients in Denver and Colorado Springs to the virus by subjecting them to her dirty needles in a plan to steal their painkillers.

So, in response, here’s a primer on Hepatitis C to inform, enlighten and dispel some myths.

Q: What is Hepatitis C?
A: It’s a blood-borne virus that attacks the liver. Although it is mostly symptomless, it can eventually lead to cirrhosis and liver cancer, and is the No. 1 cause for liver transplants. The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention estimates 3.2 million people have the disease. Colorado’s Hep C Connection says that number is likely closer to 4 million, given people often don’t know they have it. Without symptoms, people may not discover they are sick until a blood test for a check up or some other illness reveals the disease.

Q: How does it spread?
A: Most people are infected with the disease by sharing needles, since the virus is transmitted by microscopic particles in the blood. Thousands have contracted the disease from blood transfusions, however. Hepatitis C was identified in 1989, and blood donations have only been screened for it since 1992, so thousands of people were infected through blood transfusions prior to that time. Even dried blood and trace amounts can pose a risk; people with Hepatitis C are told not to share razors or toothbrushes to avoid spreading the disease.

Q. What’s its relationship to Hepatitis A and Hepatitis B?
A. All three are liver inflammations. But Hepatitis A, which is not a chronic condition, is found in fecal matter and can be spread orally from poor hygiene and contaminated food or beverages, according to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Hepatitis B is spread by both blood and other bodily fluids and is considered a sexually transmitted disease.

Q: Why is it stigmatized?
A: Because I.V. drug abusers are by far the primary risk group, many people regard the disease as a consequence of a reckless lifestyle and poor decision-making. It is “quite unmistakenly regarded as some kind of morally, shamefully reprehensible thing,” said David Petersen, a licensed social worker who also facilitates a Colorado Springs Hepatitis C support group.
In reality, it’s not that simple. He said people who attend the support group run the gamut in income, careers and backgrounds. Mothers have gotten the disease through blood transfusions for Caesarian sections. Some people have experimented with a drug just one time many years ago and become infected.
At support groups, people struggle with two primary emotions: Shock from the idea that the disease can be deadly, and shame resulting from the stigma, Petersen said.

Q: Is there a vaccine or a cure?
A: Unlike Hepatitis A and B, there is no vaccine. A cure? Sort of. In about 15 percent of people infected with Hepatitis C, the virus simply clears out of the system without any treatment. For the rest, drug treatment is often successful. The most common subtype of Hepatitis C is cured 50 percent of the time with treatment, said Nancy Steinfurth, executive director of Hep C Connection. Other types of the virus are even more curable.

Q: What is the treatment?
A: Hepatitis C is treated with a combination of drugs: an injected drug known as an interferon, and an antiviral pill, ribavirin. The drug regimen lasts 11 months and some people experience severe side effects, chiefly chronic fatigue. Specialists who treat Hepatitis C patients are usually gastroenterologists and hematologists.

Q. Where can I get more information?
A. The Internet is chock-full of Web sites on Hepatitis C. Some good starting places include the CDC site (www.cdc.gov/hepatitis/HepatitisC.htm) and the Colorado-based Hep C Connection site at www.hepc-connection.org. There’s also a Hepatitis C support group that meets at St. Francis Health Center, 825 E. Pikes Peak Ave. The group is planning to hold an informational meeting from 7-8:30 p.m. on July 23. Call Peterson at 440-0025 for details. A confidential care line is available at 1-800-522-HEPC (4372).
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Call Newsome at 636-0198. Visit the Pikes Peak Health blog at www.pikespeakhealth.freedomblogging.com and the Gazette’s Health page at Gazette.com/health