ADHS
News Release:
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Grandma Becomes Face of Hepatitis C in Arizona |
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FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE –
November 30, 2006 |
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| Contact: |
Michael Murphy,
Communications Director, ADHS (602) 542-1094
Beverly Foust, Arizona Hepatitis C Coalition, (602) 769-1004 |
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At 55, Beverly Foust is not your typical grandmother.
A registered nurse, Foust has become the face of hepatitis C in Arizona as chair of the Arizona Hepatitis C Coalition.
She is one of the estimated 100,000 Arizonans who live with the disease, which Foust has had for nearly 20 years. Hepatitis C is caused by a blood-borne virus. It is insidious and often without symptoms in the early stages.
Foust is unsure how she became infected. "It could have been from a needle stick, or some other way. I used to wonder about it, but after a while, I decided that learning how to live with it is the important thing, not worrying where I got it."
Today, Foust is on a mission to raise awareness about Hepatitis C, and she's gotten some help from high places.
Gov. Janet Napolitano declared November Hepatitis C Awareness Month in an effort to shine a spotlight on the "silent epidemic."
The Governor and the Arizona Department of Health Services are striving to increase awareness of the risk factors for disease transmission. Estimates indicate that about half of the 100,000 Arizona residents who are infected with the Hepatitis C Virus (HCV) are unaware of the infection because they have no symptoms.
Knowing they are at risk may encourage individuals to take appropriate steps to prevent further spread of the disease and, if infected, to prevent further damage to their liver.
HCV can survive in the liver undetected for 10 to 20 years. During those years, an individual can unknowingly infect others and can develop debilitating liver disease.
HCV is spread through direct blood-to-blood contact and cannot be contracted through hugging, kissing or sharing eating utensils. There is no vaccine to prevent HCV.
Still, it has a stigma, associated with intravenous drug use that makes people avoid testing for and admitting to the disease.
In Foust's case, she suspects a needle stick. Before the AIDS epidemic of the early 1980s, nurses were not required to wear gloves, or even allowed to wear them except around patients with certain infectious diseases. Foust does not rule out personal risks either, such as a small tattoo, a shared razor or other blood-to-blood contact.
More than 65,000 Arizonans have tested positive for the disease so far in just five years of offering screening, according to the Arizona Department of Health Services.
CDC recommends testing for individuals with the following risk factors.
- Recipients of blood transfusions, blood products, organs or tissue before July, 1992
- Recipients of clotting factors made before 1987
- Injecting drug users
- Hemodialysis patients
- Individuals with undiagnosed liver disease
- Infants born to HCV infected mothers (after 12 months)
- Healthcare workers after exposure has occurred
Testing should also be considered for those who received tattoos under non-sterile conditions (for example, while in prison), or who participated in unprotected sex where blood was involved.
A blood test for HCV is the only way to find out if a person is infected. If you think you might be at risk, ask your doctor or clinic about hepatitis C testing. To learn more about hepatitis C or to sign up for the First Steps Program, contact ADHS' Hepatitis C Program at (602) 364-3658 or 1-800-496-9660 (outside Maricopa County) or visit www.azdhs.gov.
First Steps is a class designed to help educate newly diagnosed patients. This class is offered in collaboration with the Arizona Chapter of the American Liver Foundation. |
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