HCV article and causes

[layla]

This kind of stuff just annoys the sh!t out of me. This is part of an article on the front page of the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel newspaper today.

"A key example is the treatment of hepatitis C, which often is contracted through intravenous drug use, tattoos and sexual contact. Until several years ago, there were no effective medications for the liver disease.

About 2,500 Wisconsin inmates - or 14% - have hepatitis C, a rate four times as high as the state's general population. The illness can now be treated with pills and injections, which can cost as much as $14,000 for a 48-week treatment."

Are these the 3 leading causes? Are they so high a proportion of causes that it's insignificant to list other causes such as healthcare workers, contacted at birth, military innoculation lines, blood transfusions etc.?

I've was in miltary innoculation lines in the 70's, got blood i an operation in the 70's, (but also tried drugs as a teen) but I feel this type of article stereotypes the HCV infected persons. This was on the front page and is exactly why I don't share my HCV status except on rare occasions. Great for all of you that do and don't have a problem with this but for me it's a problem for numerous reason. Just wanted to vent and share this.

And I wonder how do they actually know that it's 14% higher rate than the rest of the population. Are they now testing for HCV?  Right! Vent Vent....

I also don't mean to make light of the prison populations problems with HCV so hope not to offend anyone there.
LL

[MichaelT]

www.improb.com is the home of the Ignoble prizes... if humor is healing this is a big dose for some of us!

[derail]

I am aghast at the carrying-ons of so called med. professionals?, even when informed of our status. only once at TOR.GEN.HOSP> did I experience someone not wearing gloves as she drew blood from me. Her comment" well wearing gloves isn't gonna stop a needle" and when I said Its not just about you , its also me that might be exposed to more stuff I don't need to deal with. She shrugged her shoulders as if to say too Freakin bad. Icomplained and haven't seen her since. Meanwhile there is a website dedicated to the individuals who improve our gene pool..... by removing themselves from it .A book I rec'd for xmas called the darwin awards led me to it .Its by Wendy Northcutt web site from Stanford U. it is a hoot www.DarwinAwards.com  a definite must check out

[MichaelT]

HCV and sex. Well, the topic we tippy-toe around... is anal sex. Rectal tissue is quite friable compared to other, uh, receptacles, harumph, and, ah-hem, thus is a great venue for disease propagation, plus it is presumably warm and moist. Soooo, "monogamous, heterosexual" is supposed to mean, ultimately, non-gay, non-anal sex.

Problem is there doesn't appear to be any direct stats on anal sex as a means of contracting the HCV. My take is folks should assume it is and act accordingly.

Presumably I got the bug from being an IVDU, but ya' know the stupid stuff we do as kids, Indian Blood Oaths, and other stuff, who the heck can really know how they acquired it? I'm sure some folks do have certain knowledge, but the mind boggles at all of the opportunities... I had a tech draw blood and toss the filled vials in the box that is supposed to hold sterile gauze, the stuff they stick on your arm and bandage up???? even AFTER I told her I had HCV!!! Darwin must be wrong (sorry Indiana)! People like this are dangerous.  -Michael

[Amerabrit]

I agree with Indiana; you handle yourself very well.  There's nothing wrong with your wit..  I would be less inclined to confront a person holding a needle and much more inclined to do as you did;  call head office and let them deal with it.  It has to be better for all if we act on problems rather than react.   I too, use Quest and fortunately, the same tech takes my blood each time.

Everyone:  Some important blood tests appear to be coming up for a lot of us;  I wish you all good results.

[Indiana]

Aww **** girl.....We can't save the whole world from ALL the idiots! I look at it as Darwins' natural selection.
That gal has had much more training than the avareage bear....and STILL she does something that stupid. That is NUTS! It is NOT our mission in life to save all the IDIOTS! stupid people deserve what they get if they have been given all the info and ignore it.
You have now completely ruined my Fantasy dream that I have been working on. I had you in Horned rimmed glasses and a dress that huggged your neck so close that it almost choked you. NOW I see that you are into "exotic"?? Holy ****! I am just amazed. I am trying now to get a picture of you for the fantasy......Maybe a nice Nurses outfit........or better yet, a Marine Biologist or something in a Wet Suit! Lots of possibilitied there!   Hahahahahaha   Just TEASIN........

These stats that the "Mainstream Madia" come up with have no real basis. The news media now have no credibility at all. Unfortunately, they have no accountability because the    mainstrean population continues to support them by buying their stuff. That reporter couldn't state a source because he had none. It is just a made-up stat to suit the papers agenda. I would bet my Svr status on that. So...Guess what I say??
                          SCREW THEM!
WE know what the truth is. WE have the REAL stats. If you really want to make em squirm write a letter to the Editor as Scott suggested. Or do what I do and talk to the High Schools and Boy Scouts.
Sure...The prisons probably have a higher rate....but that is just an indication of our failure to maintain a healthy incarcaration system. As long as we treat our prisoners like "Queens" instead of "Inmates' we will never win.
The prison population IS tested.....The General population is NOT. Makes sense that they would find a higher rate. So would the "General Population" if they just tested for it.
Ok.....I have thought about it through this whole post......and I now have you in a leather camisole with REALLY great shoes. HAHAHAHAHAHA  
hey....allow an old man his Fantasies.......



Ps....I thought you handled youeself pretty well throughout that recent argumentative post. I think that compliments are needed when they are earned. You're doin fine........

[tdub]

My spelling is bad. I ment to say sharpe tools.

Grade 2
Stage 1
Virus load..3,900,000
genetype...1A

Liver enzmes have been elavated sence the 80's and my new Doctor thought it might be time to find out why......

tdub

[tdub]

I don't know whitch of the several ways to get this virus I got it from. I did a lot of coke several times in my life but it's been over 20 years sense I put a straw in my noise. I was in the Navy doing the 60's and those vac guns really did some damage to you. I know I moved and it cut me. I worked in a Hospital for 6 years during the 80's and I turned 21 at Woodstock in 1969 and played in a Rock and Roll band for several years during the 70's. Who knows. I never booted up any drugs.
I got it and now I have to figure out whats the best thinmg for me to do. Being self- employed and working with share toold all day long kind of scare me when it comes to the standard tx. I'm not sure what to do. I'll just keep praying and coming to forums like this for help.

[derail]

I'm just wondering it voyeurism is a real sx. of treatment and if one were to get caught would you be willing to testify same?
sticks and stones may break your bones but peeks and such excite you. hahahahahahaha

[cuteus]

well said, at this point it is more important to decide what to do with the virus, not to find out how it got there, it is kind of nice to know exactly when, but hard to pinpoint for many of us.
did you have any biopsies? have they assessed your level of liver damage?
It is a tough spot we find ourselves in, when we are first diagnosed. shock and confusion hardly describe our state.
I am a 1a, at 50wks of tx and trying for longer, around 50yrs and female, read as many studies as you can find on your genotype and ask as many questions as you have. There are many caring, knowledgeable individuals here that can direct you to proper sites to do research and answer your questions based on their acquired wisdom and experience.
best to you

[new-sojourn]

Well, I'm very vocal b/c I did get hep c from transfusions.  I'm very interested in that fact since I know exactly how and when and can look back and see all the medical mis-dx's, precisly b/c I never was kinky or shootin' or have tattoes-so I was never in a 'high risk' group and never properly tested or treated for the disease and the sx's of the disease-depression, memory loss, weith-water gain, immoble joints, extreme fatique, etc.  I suffered for years thinking I truely had lost my mind.  No one should have to go thru that crippling dispair and depression.  Just knowing there was a cause made life worth living.  At least I wasn't crazy anymore.

Precisely b/c it was not 'high risk' activity b/emergency c-sec's, I feel compelled to be vocal.  And I'm amazed of the people who have family who have hep c, mostly thru medical procedures.

Being vocal is educating, freeing and the only way hep c will be properly funded.

[Sam Hall]

Ive yet to see ant evidence of ap reson contracting through tattos, coures its' feasable but any resaesrh,i think not. How thw hell can you prove such stuff ,I got tattoos ive IVd ive blood brotherersd had treatmeant in third world countries and sex with any willing. Also plenty of cat scratches. And i got pecked on the **** by a swan once(git). First question ,clinicians icluded ,is where did you getit. You can seeit on thier lips "well it's self inflicted then" ....Yeah i worked real hard to get this. I don't want the sypathy of right wing **** heads but they sure seem to have some influence

oh and Cuteos what you doin' peepin' in folks windows? Is this research...can i join? Or dose arousal exculde me?

[Tony-z]

Here is a link to a very good sory about NON responders.


http://www.hepatitisneighborhood.com/content/in_the_news/archive_1857.aspx


               May God Bless all of use.


                        TonyZ

[layla]

True a person could contract it again after SVR from another source. That is precisely why I want to have my surgery while still on my last month of tx. I know it's probably stupid but it will help ease my worries about contracting anything while in the surgery. I never thought of this stuff the last time I had surgery but I can't help it now. I can't wait to be done! LL

[audreywald]

My understanding is that it is usually passed blood to blood. A VERY high percentage of current or former IV drug users have it; and a very LOW percentage of HCV is gotten through sexual contact.

It's a shame some people put sexual contact and drug use in the same catagory, isn't it?

BTW, I am a former drug user but I stopped 18 years ago.

So this is not a put down but an observation.

[cuteus]

your bio looks like mine, same stage and grade, but interestingly enough I had normal enzymes every time they did bloodwork through the years, and my viral load(vl) was measured at 374,000IU/ml.  You will see here all kinds of variables to the hcv presence and the meds from treatment(tx).  Some have no symptoms to the hcv presence others are taking strong pain meds to ease the effects of hcv.
I decided to tx because at 50, time is ticking away and I have no idea how fast or slow MY illness is going to progress, and I have a young daughter that needs me.
  Even though I had a low vl, I did not clear the virus the first 12 weeks, others with millions in their vl, have.  That is why I wish to extend the meds beyond the 48 wk mark, I do not want to relapse and have to do this again, I think I can safely say No one here does. I will give my best shot the first time, if I can only remember to take the pills...
In your work, working with sharp tools, I see no major problems with the meds, but I could be wrong of course.  If you need to concentrate and remember specifics, it may be a problem.  I guess you could forget where you put the tools...but should be able to telll if you turned them off(by the noise?).  Studying for board exams could be a challenge.... so law school can be a tough one...
Brain fog and fatigue have been constant with me, but not too extreme.
Hang in there for other  perspectives, those that chose to wait and those in tx or done with it.  GL

[snook_man]

Damn, I would like to know, how the hell you managed to get pecked by a swan on your *****?? That seems like it should be on another forum, LOL. I have tattoos also, but they say damage to liver, and same genotype as mother would be more likely that I got it at birth. As far as prisoners with hep c, I did a little sentence, when I was 21, and I know why it is so high in the prison system. Inmates give each other tattoos with filed down bed springs, or the spring that holds batteries in a radio straightened out. same needle, no sterilization. Plain common sense.
Still don't know about that swan, though.

[Amerabrit]

I can understand your frustration, Layla. The article does not appear to be well written nor well researched..  I don't agree with a later post though that understanding the means of transmission isn't as important as tx.  Who is to say for sure that those having achieved SVR after completing tx and then six months later test positive, have actually relapsed, couldn't the positive test reflect a "new" infection?  
Are genotypes re-tested in those having, (sadly), "relapsed" ??

[Sam Hall]

The bloody thing was being fed by some do-gooders. I don't no what it took my **** for i was havin' what i considered to be a private *iss behind a tree, round came a **ck*ng great head ,and wop beak full of ****.Believe me they can peck(never stopped to ask about swallowing) jeez it hurt and drew blood.
Moral keep that jap eye open.

[cuteus]

I would like to know the answer to that also. I guess they assume relapse if within 6 months post tx, but after that, I hope they check the geno...good one.

[lookin-up]

Here'a a perfect example of spreading hcv.  I was in the hospital for my liver  biopsy for hcv.  Right before time to go home, a nurse with NO GLOVES took out my IV and I bled a bit.  She put her bare thumb on it to stop the bleeding & told me, "I know you have HepC, but I'm from the old school & cannot put in or take out IV's with gloves on.  She then got gauze & a bandaid to cover me.  I was so shocked - I hollered at her to wash her hands.  

The good news is, at the time this happened, I was painting another mural for the wife of the Head Administrator of the whole hospital chain (they're large & there's lots) and I reported her to him.  Still --- what about all the others around me in that same room???!!!!!  I actually had my thyroid Doc tell me that he will not go to a hospital for that very reason.

I've had many surgeries, acupuncture, and pierced my own ears at the age of 15 - those are my possibilities of getting hcv.

HOW can we educate the world??  Does this have to become a screaming epidemic first??  That nurse will remember me if she ends up having tx herself....she certainly doesn't have a job!

Grrrrr!!!!!

[cuteus]

I can hardly believe you posted that on the day I had a similar  experience; I go to get my blood drawn at lunch, usual place, a new tech is there, she looks high school age. very friendly, talking a lot, ties the band and inserts the needle, as she does so I realize that there was no alcohol swab used to wipe the area, I glanced to the counter and the towelette packet sits unopened on the counter, she is still talking complimenting my georgous veins, I am freaking out...she pulls out the first tube and inserts the 2nd one, pushing the needle slightly in...no blood in tube...she finds the vein again and removes this tube to insert 3rd...does even worse...now digging for the georgeous vein...finally done, covers site with gauze(don't know if she got it from a sterile pack)...removes her gloves..comes back and retrieves the first gauze placing a new one plus a bandaid...with no gloves...as she applies the gauze I noticed some healing cuts with scab or dry blood on it in her finger...my blood pressure is rising... I have no words...I don't remember in recent years going through something similar.  No one ever has problems with my veins...she even thanked me for having good veins(?)..I could have infected her or she could have infected me with something else....I had to call their main office and insist that they monitor her and give her further training...this is Quest lab...Good grief.
I hate that things take me by surprise and I fail to react...but it was too late about the swab...maybe not too late about the missing gloves, though...i wish my wit was quicker than this....GRRRRR also.

[layla]

As far as sexual contact I guess what I am thinking is do you think this guy even knows that it's not actually the sex but the blood to blod contact that can happen during sex. My understand is it is rare to get HCV through "normal" sexual contact. To me articles like this make it sound like it is easily and most likely contracted this way. LL

[cuteus]

is swinging from the trapeze with knives unorthodox, exotic or perverse?  i am truly confused.  I want to classify my behavior properly...;-}. personally, i like "exotic"
ok...how many times did you peek in on the neighbors to come up with their statistics?

[Tallblonde]

Virtually every article I read on HCV states, or strongly implies, that sexual transmission is a major cause of transmission.  But the fact is, it is a very unlikely cause.  That just adds to the stigma.    It drive me crazy.

Susan