State urges hepatitis tests

Isle residents get the ailment attacking the liver more often than the rest of the population

By Susan Essoyan

POSTED: 01:30 a.m. HST, Nov 05, 2012

~~<p>Baby boomers in Hawaii face an elevated risk of being infected with hepatitis C, and officials recommend they be screened for the virus, which can hide out for decades in their cells undetected and eventually cause serious liver damage and cancer.</p>
<p>"Even though we have high rates of hepatitis in Hawaii, most people who have it don't know that they have it," said Thaddeus Pham, adult viral hepatitis prevention coordinator for the state. "They don't do anything to treat it, and then it possibly leads to liver cancer or other liver complications."</p>
~~

Baby boomers in Hawaii face an elevated risk of being infected with hepatitis C, and officials recommend they be screened for the virus, which can hide out for decades in their cells undetected and eventually cause serious liver damage and cancer.

"Even though we have high rates of hepatitis in Hawaii, most people who have it don't know that they have it," said Thaddeus Pham, adult viral hepatitis prevention coordinator for the state. "They don't do anything to treat it, and then it possibly leads to liver cancer or other liver complications." Login for more...