Hepatitis C is not a new disease. But more and more people, primarily in the baby boomer population, are just finding out that they've been living with it for years.

That's because hepatitis C, an illness that attacks the liver, can take as many as 20 years to show its symptoms.

Conservative estimates indicate about 32,000 New Mexicans live with hepatitis C — and that's not counting an estimated 50 percent of the prisoners in New Mexico correctional facilities who have the disease.

Of the infected population, one in four people don't know they carry the disease, said staff at Santa Fe's Southwest Care Center, which is devoted to HIV care.

Data from the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention for 2009, the most recent year available, indicate an estimated 16,000 new infections were detected that year in the U.S.

With those facts in hand, Southwest Care Center is moving to promote awareness of the curable disease and inform people of treatment resources available through a town hall meeting at 6 p.m. Wednesday at Buffalo Thunder's Hilton resort in Pojoaque.

The event is free and open to the community. A panel of medical experts will be on hand to answer questions about hepatitis C.

In most cases, the disease is contracted through a blood transfusion — donated blood was not screened for hepatitis C until 1992 — or through intravenous drug users sharing a needle.

According to Trevor Hawkins, Southwest Care Center medical director, 20 percent to 25 percent of hepatitis C patients in the U.S. also have HIV. About one-fourth of diagnosed people in Albuquerque and about one-fifth in Northern New Mexico have both conditions.

But having hepatitis C does not necessarily mean people also have HIV. The belief that the conditions always go together has led to a taboo that sometimes prevents people from getting tested, according to Warren Goldenberg, a family nurse practitioner with Southwest Care Center.

"We see professional women over 50 in our studies who back in the '70s or '80s had a blood transfusion or went partying when they were young and used [intravenous drugs], even if it was just once," Goldenberg said.

Between 2006 and 2010, only three acute cases — those diagnosed within six months to a year of infection — were detected in this region. But in 2010 alone, 15 new cases were diagnosed. Of those, nearly 60 percent of the infected people were Hispanic, and of those, half were younger than 30 years of age, said Stella Reed, Southwest Care Center director of community outreach.

Many of the new cases have been identified in Northern New Mexico, a region with one of the highest percent of intravenous drug users per capita in the country. Still, "about 80 percent of people never experience any signs or symptoms" of hepatitis C, Reed said.

The liver performs many critical functions, including detoxifying the body and creating proteins that help coagulate blood. In most people, hepatitis C symptoms are similar to those of the flu. Patients may become jaundiced. In extreme cases, cirrhosis or liver cancer can develop, or a liver transplant may be needed.

"If people can get tested and treated, they can prevent all this," Goldenberg said.

Contact Sandra Baltazar Martínez at 986-3062 or smartinez@sfnewmexican.com.



IF YOU GO

What: Free education meeting about hepatitis C
When: 6 p.m. Wednesday, Oct. 5
Where: Hilton resort at Buffalo Thunder, 20 Buffalo Thunder Trail in Pojoaque
More information: 989-9255



HEPATITIS STRAINS

There are three strains of the viral liver disease hepatitis: A, B and C.

Hepatitis A, the mildest form, goes away over time without treatment and does not cause liver damage.

Hepatitis B, a much more serious disease, is spread by contact with the body fluids of an infected person. It can be acute or chronic and can cause serious liver damage.

Hepatitis C spreads through infected blood contact such as a transfusion or sharing a drug needle. Symptoms may not develop for years.

Vaccines are available for Hepatitis A and B.

Source: WebMD