Diseases & Conditions
Should you be tested for hepatitis C?
New treatments promise high cure rates with fewer side effects. But carefully consider the pros and cons of testing.
If you are a baby boomer born between 1945 and 1965, the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) thinks you should be tested for infection with the hepatitis C virus (HCV). Boomers are five times more likely than other adults to have HCV. The virus can reside silently in the liver for decades, where in a minority of people it may progress to fatal liver failure or cancer.
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