AIDS Committee of North Bay encouraging people to get tested for Hepatitis C
Wednesday marks World Hepatitis Day and the AIDS Committee of North Bay is encouraging people to get tested.
Hepatitis C is a disease that affects the liver. Keri McGuire-Trahan, a nurse practitioner with the AIDS Committee of North Bay, told CTV News that one to two per cent of the population in North Bay is living with the condition.
"That’s a significant number of people in the area and, of course, COVID has skewed things," McGuire-Trahan said.
"Now, there’s more drug and alcohol use so we’re starting to see more positives come in. I suspect our numbers are going to go up a bit more."
As places reopen in North Bay, Trahan said it’s crucial people get tested.
"The test itself is a finger prick like a diabetic test -- we have answers within 20 minutes," she said.
"That tells us whether or not you’ve been exposed. If you have been, we will do more blood work to find out if have active disease, then we offer treatment."
On World Hepatitis Day, the committee is hoping to raise awareness about Hepatitis C and to also clear up any misconceptions.
"A lot of people are mistaken in the sense that they feel like there is vaccines for Hep C, which there is not," said Glenn Petersen who’s the Hepatitis C outreach coordinator for AIDS Committee of North Bay.
"That’s for A and B when you travel. It’s a worldwide problem -- hepatitis in general, and Hep C is a Canadian problem where a lot of it comes from IV drug use."
Trahan has been testing for and treating Hepatitis C since 2006, and she said the treatment is now a lot easier on people’s bodies.
“When we started 20, 25, 30 years ago, the treatment was nasty, it was brutal, lots of side-effects,” she said.
“Now, we’ve advanced that. We have an all oral regime that’s very short -- eight to 12 weeks with virtually no side-effects and a 95 per cent cure rate.”
The AIDS Committee of North Bay offers Hepatitis C testing at their downtown clinic on McIntyre Street West, and also offers testing via their outreach van.
CTVNews.ca Top Stories
More than 115 cases of eye damage reported in Ontario after solar eclipse
More than 115 people who viewed the solar eclipse in Ontario earlier this month experienced eye damage after the event, according to eye doctors in the province.
Toxic testing standoff: Family leaves house over air quality
A Sherwood Park family says their new house is uninhabitable. The McNaughton's say they were forced to leave the house after living there for only a week because contaminants inside made it difficult to breathe.
Decoy bear used to catch man who illegally killed a grizzly, B.C. conservation officers say
A man has been handed a lengthy hunting ban and fined thousands of dollars for illegally killing a grizzly bear, B.C. conservation officers say.
B.C. seeks ban on public drug use, dialing back decriminalization
The B.C. NDP has asked the federal government to recriminalize public drug use, marking a major shift in the province's approach to addressing the deadly overdose crisis.
OPP responds to apparent video of officer supporting anti-Trudeau government protestors
The Ontario Provincial Police (OPP) says it's investigating an interaction between a uniformed officer and anti-Trudeau government protestors after a video circulated on social media.
An emergency slide falls off a Delta Air Lines plane, forcing pilots to return to JFK in New York
An emergency slide fell off a Delta Air Lines jetliner shortly after takeoff Friday from New York, and pilots who felt a vibration in the plane circled back to land safely at JFK Airport.
Sophie Gregoire Trudeau on navigating post-political life, co-parenting and freedom
Sophie Gregoire Trudeau says there is 'still so much love' between her and Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, as they navigate their post-separation relationship co-parenting their three children.
Last letters of pioneering climber who died on Everest reveal dark side of mountaineering
George Mallory is renowned for being one of the first British mountaineers to attempt to scale the dizzying heights of Mount Everest during the 1920s. Nearly a century later, newly digitized letters shed light on Mallory’s hopes and fears about ascending Everest.
Loud boom in Hamilton caused by propane tank, police say
A loud explosion was heard across Hamilton on Friday after a propane tank was accidentally destroyed and detonated at a local scrap metal yard, police say.