CDC Proposes that All Baby Boomers Be Tested Once for Hepatitis C

The US Center for Disease Control (CDC) is issuing draft guidelines proposing that all U.S. baby boomers get a one-time test for the hepatitis C virus. One in 30 baby boomers – the generation born from 1945 through 1965 – has been infected with hepatitis C, and most don’t know it. Hepatitis C causes serious liver diseases including liver cancer, which is the fastest-rising cause of cancer-related deaths, and the leading cause of liver transplants in the United States. CDC believes this approach will address the largely preventable consequences of this disease, especially in light of newly available therapies that can cure up to 75 percent of infections. For further details, see the CDC