There’s a silent epidemic out there, one that few people talk about because it is shrouded in unnecessary stigmas brought about by by inaccurate information. The cause of the epidemic is HCV - Hepatitis C Virus, and the numbers of infected people are growing, especially among health care workers, such as nurses, doctors, phlebotomists, and others. If you are in a profession that puts you in contact with human blood, you are at risk. That’s because Hep C is exclusively blood borne, meaning it can only be contracted when an infected person’s blood mixes with the blood of an uninfected person (that’s B-L-O-O-D, not vaginal or seminal fluid, tears, saliva, or any other substance, unless there is blood in it).

So why all the shame and stigma? Because those who are supposed to be getting the truth out to the public are not exercising due diligence. The media, in it’s usual state of self-perpetuated Puritanical ignorance, bleats out whatever comes across it’s desks, never checking facts, never looking beyond the ‘new study results’ to see who paid for the study, or what the conditions of the study actually were. Most medical journals try to carry reputable articles, but it is still necessary to check to see who paid for the study results quoted, and what the circumstances were, before making blanket pronouncements about a disease or it’s treatment. Continue Reading »