Hepatitis C free screenings to be offered Thursday at three locations in Clallam County

Published 12:01 am Tuesday, May 17, 2016

Free hepatitis C screenings will be offered Thursday in Port Angeles, Sequim and Forks.

Peninsula College nursing students will join staff and volunteers from Clallam County Health and Human Services and Volunteers in Medicine of the Olympics free clinic to provide screening, which is free and open to the public.

Screening will be conducted from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m.

Although walk-ins are welcome, appointments are encouraged.

Screening locations are:

■   Volunteers in Medicine of the Olympics (VIMO), 819 E. Georgiana St., Port Angeles.

■   Dungeness Valley Health & Wellness Clinic, 777 N. Fifth Ave., Suite 109, Sequim.

■   Clallam County Health and Human Services Public Health Section Forks Office, 140 C St., Forks.

The free service is offered to raise awareness of hepatitis C treatment and screening guidelines during National Hepatitis Awareness Month, said Chris Hurst, director of public health programs for Clallam County Health and Human Services.

Hepatitis C is an infectious disease caused by a virus that attacks the liver.

Most people do not have symptoms when initially infected with the virus but develop a chronic slow-progressing disease.

Silent disease

People with chronic hepatitis C can live for decades without symptoms, not knowing they are infected, even though their livers are being damaged.

If untreated, chronic hepatitis C can lead to scarring of the liver (cirrhosis), liver cancer and death.

People of all ages can be infected with hepatitis C but people born from 1945 to 1965 — the baby boomers — are five times more likely than other adults to be infected.

As a result, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) suggests all baby boomers be screened at least once for this infection.

An estimated 3.5 million people in the United States have chronic hepatitis C virus infection.

“Each year, between 50 and 100 Clallam County residents are reported to be chronically infected with hepatitis C,” said Dr. Christopher Frank, Clallam County health officer.

“But these numbers are likely only the tip of the iceberg because many infected persons go undetected for many years until they develop serious symptoms.”

Improved treatment

Treatment for chronic hepatitis C infection has dramatically improved in recent years, he added.

“With new effective treatments available for hepatitis C that have far fewer side effects than in the past, it has never been more important to follow the CDC testing guidelines for this potentially life-threatening infection,” Frank said.

Call 360-457-4431 to schedule testing at any of the sites.