'Misconceptions' about hepatitis C

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'Misconceptions' about hepatitis CWednesday, 4 October 2006 STIGMA and misunderstanding still cloud people's understanding of hepatitis C, according to a local chaplain.

Thorneside mother-of-seven , who has had the disease for more than 20 years but was diagnosed only in 1995, said she probably had been infected as a teenager when she obtained a tattoo. According to the Hepatitis Council more than 250,000 Australians have the virus which affects the liver and is spread by blood-to-blood contact with an infected person. Speaking ahead of this week's National Hepatitis C Awareness Week, said everyone's experience of the virus was different but people could seek treatment. "It's actually a chronic disease that you can live with for years and years," she said.

But said at one stage she had pain so intense that it felt "like a knife going through my liver", although she now only experiences a dull ache in her side. , who now provides a chaplaincy service for those living with hepatitis C, said some common misconceptions included that it was a "junkies' disease" when in fact there were other ways to become infected. "These things are just the unspoken things that people are dealing with all the time," she said. The theme of Hepatitis C Awareness Week, October 1-7, is self-management and people are encouraged to "take control now". People should consider being tested for the virus if they have ever injected illicit drugs, had an unsterile tattoo or body piercing, had unsterile medical treatment overseas, come to Australia from a country with high rates of hepatitis or received a blood transfusion prior to 1990. For more information log on to www.hepcawareness.net.au or call 1300 437 222. For support, contact on 0414 847 448 or email hepperchaplain qld@...

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