Health Officials Warn About Hepatitis C

Health-care professionals in Simi Valley want to raise awareness about hepatitis C, which they say is on the rise and could become an epidemic.

“People [may] have been carrying it for years and may not know it,” said Jo Lynn de la Torre, a spokeswoman for Simi Valley Hospital and Health Care Services.

There have been frequent public health warnings in recent years about hepatitis B, which is often transmitted through the handling of food by people who have the virus.

But health officials only recently classified the C form of hepatitis, which was formerly known only as non-A or non-B hepatitis, said Laura McMullin, a registered nurse at Simi Valley Hospital who runs a hotline providing standardized health information.

According to the National Institutes of Health, people at highest risk for the blood-borne virus are those who received blood transfusions or organ donations before 1995, those with pierced body parts or tattoos, and people who have had multiple sexual partners.

The symptoms of hepatitis C typically include weight loss, nausea and vomiting, and may include jaundiced skin, said McMullin.

To raise awareness about hepatitis C, officials at Simi Valley Hospital are offering a free health screening and lecture Aug. 13 from 6:30 to 8 p.m. in the hospital’s Aspen Education Center at 2750 N. Sycamore Drive.

Anyone wishing to preregister can call (805) 522-4444.