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CDC urges baby boomers to get tested for virus

Posted at 5:42 PM, May 20, 2012
and last updated 2012-05-20 17:42:12-04

(WTVR) Saturday May 19 was National Hepatitis Testing Day.

The Centers for Disease Control urged all United States baby boomers to get tested for the Hepatitis-C virus.

One in 30 people born from 1945 through 1965, has unknowingly been infected said the CDC.

Hepatitis-C causes serious liver diseases, including liver cancer, the fastest-rising cause of cancer-related deaths, and  the leading cause of liver transplants.

More than two million hepatitis-C infected baby boomers account for more than 75 percent of all American adults living with the virus.

Extra: Thelma Thiel, Executive Director from the Hepatitis Foundation International, visits CBS 6 to talk about Hepatitis Awareness Month.  She shares causes, symptoms and treatments of Hepatitis.

Click here for the link.