National Hepatitis Testing Day 2014

By Sondra Forsyth

May 19th 2014 is the third national Hepatitis Testing Day. Testing is especially important for Boomers and Beyond because people in that cohort may have contracted the HCV virus through blood transfusions or organ transplants prior to 1992 before screening went into effect. HCV, a potentially life-threatening infection of the liver, can be chronic with no symptoms for years and even decades. Millions of Americans have chronic hepatitis and most of them don’t know they are infected until serious liver damage has occurred.

Don’t let that happen to you and your loved ones! Visit the National Hepatitis Day site for information about where to get tested in your area, not only on May `9th but all year long.

National Hepatitis Testing Day in the United States is part of an educational initiative of CDC's Division of Viral Hepatitis and the U.S. Department of Health & Human Services' Combating the Silent Epidemic of Viral Hepatitis: Action Plan for the Prevention, Care & Treatment of Viral Hepatitis, Updated 2014-2016.