Hepatitis C, the most common blood-borne virus in the United States, continues to raise alarms in Indiana. Approximately 50,000 Hoosiers have the disease, which can be contracted through blood by sharing needles or engaging in sexual activity or through transplants and blood transfusions. Nearly 300 Hoosiers died from the Hepatitis C virus (HCV) in 2016.

Nationwide, an estimated 2.4 million people are living with the disease; up to half may not know they have it, because symptoms may not appear until decades after infection. Baby Boomers represent 75% of infected adults, since HCV rates were highest in the 1970s and 1980s.

Last year, the ISMA House of Delegates adopted Resolution 18-45 to fight the spread of HCV in Indiana.

The mandate includes promoting education about risk factors for HCV and the consequences of letting it go untreated, as well as encouraging aggressive screening for Hoosiers at increased risk.

To help physicians educate themselves and their patients about HCV, ISMA’s Education Department recommends the following resources.

• Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC): Hepatitis C questions and answers for health professionals. This comprehensive web resource has an overview of HCV statistics. It answers numerous questions related to transmission and symptoms, testing and diagnosis, management and treatment, counseling patients, HCV and health care personnel, and pregnancy and HCV infection. The left sidebar has links to patient education resources, professional resources and more. www.ismanet.org/CDChepatitis.
• University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine: Hepatitis C: New paradigms for evaluation and management. In this online continuing medical education (CME) course, Naudia Jonassaint, MD, discusses the epidemiology and scope of HCV, appropriate screening for HCV, basic HCV treatment options, identification of special populations, and post-sustained virologic response (SVR) monitoring. The University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine designates this enduring material for a maximum of .75 AMA PRA Category 1 Credits™. www.ismanet.org/UPMChepatitis.