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
'They needed people inside Air Canada:' Police announce arrests in Pearson gold heist
Police say one former and one current employee of Air Canada are among the nine suspects that are facing charges in connection with the gold heist at Pearson International Airport last year.
Why drivers in Eastern Canada could see big gas price spikes, and other Canadians won't
Drivers in Eastern Canada face a big increase in gas prices because of various factors, especially the higher cost of the summer blend, industry analysts say.
Toronto Raptors player Jontay Porter banned from NBA
Toronto Raptors player Jontay Porter has been handed a lifetime ban from The National Basketball Association (NBA) following an investigation which found he disclosed confidential information to sports bettors, the league says.
WATCH LIVE As GC Strategies partner is admonished by MPs, RCMP confirms search warrant executed
The RCMP confirmed Wednesday it had executed a search warrant at an address registered to GC Strategies. This development comes as MPs are enacting an extraordinary, rarely used parliamentary power, summoning one of its contractors to appear before the House of Commons to be admonished publicly for failing to answer questions related to the ArriveCan app.
Woman who pressured boyfriend to kill his ex in 2000s granted absences from prison
A woman who pressured her boyfriend into killing his teenage ex more than a decade ago will be allowed to leave prison for weeks at a time.
Attempt to have murder charge quashed against alleged serial killer dismissed by judge
A motion filed by the man accused of killing four Indigenous women in Winnipeg to have one of those murder charges quashed has been dismissed by the judge – weeks before the start of his trial.
Government proposes new policy for federally regulated employees to disconnect from work
In their 2024 budget, the federal government wants to amend the Canada Labour Code, so employers in federally regulated sectors will eliminate work-related communication with employees outside of scheduled hours. If implemented, this would affect roughly 500,000 across the country.
Earthquake jolts southern Japan
An earthquake with a preliminary magnitude of 6.4 hit southern Japan late on Wednesday, said the Japan Meteorological Agency, without issuing a tsunami warning.
Disappointment widespread over budget's proposed $200-month disability benefit funding
Advocacy groups across Canada are expressing widespread disappointment about the amount of funding earmarked in the 2024 federal budget for the long-awaited Canada Disability Benefit.