Expert Calls For More Testing

15 December 2007 - This is Nottingham.com
A leading Hepatitis C expert in the is calling for all ex-drug users to come forward to be tested for the disease.

Dr Keith Neal, a consultant for the Health Protection Agency East Midlands, says that while figures in the HPA's latest annual report on Hepatitis C *show testing levels among current and former drug users in the region is one of the highest in the country, ex-drug users could slip through the net because they do not think they are at risk of the infection.

Hepatitis means swelling or inflammation of the liver. It is contracted through contact with infected blood and less commonly though other body fluids. However, because symptoms can be mild or even non-existent for decades after an individual has been infected they are frequently missed or put down to other causes.

Dr Neal said: "People who dabbled with injecting drugs years ago, maybe during their college years, need to come forward and be tested."

* Click Here to download or read a pdf file of the HPA's latest annual report on hepatitis C