Baby Boomers Get Tested for Hepatitis C – Hepatitis Awareness Month

I am participating in a VIN campaign for Quest Diagnostics. I am receiving a fee for posting; however, the opinions expressed in this post are my own. I am in no way affiliated with Quest Diagnostics and do not earn a commission or percent of sales.

Did you know that 3 to 5 million baby boomers have Hepatitis C and they may not even know it? That’s a huge number of people walking around with a life-threatening infection… that is curable.

Baby Boomers need to be tested for Hepatitis C

The reason so many people have Hepatitis C, but don’t know it, is that you can have it for decades with no symptoms.

If you were born between 1945 and 1965 (I was born in 1964) you are at a higher risk for Hepatitis C, and baby boomers are 5 times more likely to get Hepatitis C than any other age group. The reason so many baby boomers are infected isn’t completely understood, but believed to have become infected during the 70s and 80s when the rates of Hep C were the highest. 

While anyone can get HepC, over 75% of those infected are baby boomers. This was startling to me. I’ve heard of Hepatitis C and know what it is, but I had no idea that it was so prevalent with baby boomers. I remember my OB/GYN testing me for it when I was pregnant with my son in 2002, but she never went into any details as to why she was testing me.

Baby boomers need to get tested for Hepatitis C

This makes it all the more important for baby boomers to get tested. If left untreated, Hep C can develop into life-threatening liver disease.

What is Hepatitis C?

According to the CDC…

Hepatitis C is a serious liver disease that results from infection with the Hepatitis C virus. Some people who get infected with Hepatitis C are able to clear, or get rid of, the virus, but most people who get infected develop a chronic, or lifelong, infection. Over time, chronic Hepatitis C can cause serious health problems including liver damage, cirrhosis, liver cancer and even death. In fact, Hepatitis C is a leading cause of liver cancer and the leading cause of liver transplants.

HepC is spread primarily through blood from an infected person. It’s possible that many baby boomers became infected from contaminated blood and blood products before there was widespread screening of blood supplies, prior to 1992. Others may have become infected from injecting drugs, even if it was just one time in your past. However, many baby boomers have absolutely no idea how they became infected.

Even though it is possible for an infected person to become clear of, or their body to rid itself of the virus, most people who become infected will develop a chronic or lifelong infection.

Baby boomers should get tested for HepC...

The only way to know if you have Hepatitis C is to get tested. Just ask your doctor to test for it… it’s a simple blood test called, Hepatitis C Antibody Test, like I had when I was pregnant. Thankfully, my results were negative, but if I had tested positive for the virus I could be successfully treated with medications.

Learn more about the Test Results so you will know what to expect.

Also watch this video on the importance of Hep C testing for baby boomers:


Tomorrow, May 19th, is National HepC Testing Day! I encourage you to ask your doctor about getting tested for HepC today, especially if you are a baby boomer.

I am participating in a VIN campaign for Quest Diagnostics. I am receiving a fee for posting; however, the opinions expressed in this post are my own. I am in no way affiliated with Quest Diagnostics and do not earn a commission or percent of sales.