By PAUL HARASIM / RJ
A number of veterans as
well as doctors now
believe that Vietnam
veterans...could have
contracted hepatitis C
through unsafe jet gun
vaccinations.
While it’s possible the government’s position on transmission of hepatitis C among boomers may have resulted in less testing, it’s critical today boomers forget any fears of stigma and get the easy blood test.
Brian R. Edlin,1,2
Benjamin J. Eckhardt,1
Marla A. Shu,3
Scott D. Holmberg,4
and Tracy Swan5
Toward a More
Accurate Estimate of the
Prevalence of Hepatitis C in the
United States
Brian R. Edlin et al.
document the percentages of
active-duty military personnel
and Veterans' Affairs,
hospitalized patients excluded
in the
2003-2010 National Health and
Nutrition Examination Survey (NHANES)
population study...
NHANES, however,
excludes several high-risk
populations from its sampling
frame, including people who are
... active-duty military
personnel...unpublished
presentations and data to estimate
the prevalence of hepatitis C in
these excluded populations and in
turn improve the estimate of the
number of people with hepatitis C in
the United States.
Conclusion:
The number of US residents who
have been infected with
hepatitis C is unknown but is
probably at least 4.6 million
(range 3.4 million-6.0 million),
and of these, at least 3.5
million (range 2.5 million-4.7
million) are currently infected;
additional sources of potential
underestimation suggest that the
true prevalence could well be
higher.
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VA and DoD HCV Prevalence NHAMES
