HEPATITIS C A LITTLE-KNOWN KILLER

When Kitty Candelaria's husband David was diagnosed with the Hepatitis
C virus in November 1996, she didn't know about the shame and
misinformation attached to it.

It began when a doctor, who assumed David had acquired the blood-borne
virus by injecting intravenous drugs, tried repeatedly to make him
admit just that. From that point on, David was so worried about being
falsely labeled an IV drug user that he refused to tell anyone what
was wrong with him.

The virus slowly ravaged his liver. Blood draws left puncture wounds
that wouldn't heal, making David look like the IV drug user he feared
people assumed he was. He finally quit work and told his shocked
co-workers a month before dying on March 24, 2001, at the age of 46.

His last days were spent lying in the hospital, with Kitty by his
side, waiting for a liver transplant that never came.

After David's death, Kitty still had many unanswered questions. Was
she infected? Could their two daughters be infected? Why doesn't the
public know about this killer virus?

Leaving the hospital that morning, Kitty Candelaria vowed to help
break the silence. She soon started the National Hepatitis C Institute
out of her Puyallup home. The institute's volunteers are working with
established organizations to mount a national awareness and prevention
campaign.

Between 8,000 and 10,000 people die of Hepatitis C annually in the
United States, according to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and
Prevention. That rate is predicted to double or triple during the next
two decades.

In Washington, nearly 11,000 cases have been reported to the state
Health Department. Because only about 10 percent of cases are actually
reported, national prevalence data indicate that as many as 106,000
people could be infected statewide.

Most people walk around with Hepatitis C for decades and never know it
because it often causes no symptoms when first transmitted. Had the
Candelarias known years ago that David, a Vietnam veteran, was at
risk, Kitty says a test could have been done and perhaps saved his
life. Veterans, health care workers, IV drug users and the prison
population are at the highest risk because they come into contact with
potentially infected blood or body fluids.

When Hepatitis C finally is diagnosed, often the damage is done. In
the meantime, those who are infected continue to infect others
unwittingly. The virus is estimated to spread 10 times faster than
HIV/AIDS, so it's not a question of if we have an outbreak, but when.

No vaccine or cure exists. Treatment can cost at least $23,000 a year
and is not universally effective. Our focus, then, should be on
testing and education.

I worked to pass SB5039 during the 2003 legislative session. The new
law directs the state Health Department to lead an effort to create,
by Jan.1, 2004, a statewide plan to prevent and manage the disease.

This law puts Washington among fewer than a handful of states that
have developed a plan to prepare for Hepatitis C; California, Texas
and Hawaii also implemented plans during the past three years.

The state plan should recommend ways to:

* Educate the public and the medical community.

* Prevent and manage Hepatitis C among the highest-risk
populations.

* Have the capacity to perform voluntary testing.

* Identify the sources and availability of funds.

Our state isn't required to devote money to developing its Hepatitis C
plan. Only funds from the federal government and private sources can
be used. Unfortunately, money is the reason our state's preparation
efforts have stalled.

Most federal funding for blood-borne illness has been earmarked for
preventing and treating HIV/AIDS. There is very little outside money
available for Hepatitis C.

Hepatitis C is a different disease from AIDS. Although both viruses
are blood borne and can be spread by behaviors such as IV drug use,
Hepatitis C extends into the general population far more regularly
than HIV/AIDS.

Since Hepatitis C transmission can occur in as little as one-tenth of
a drop of blood, even the most seemingly incidental practices
potentially can transmit the virus to anyone. If we allow it to
worsen, an epidemic of Hepatitis C would be far worse than AIDS.

We are all at risk for Hepatitis C, so we should look forward to the
state's awareness plan being completed on schedule. It's the only way
to ensure no more Kitty Candelarias are forced to watch helplessly
while their husbands die in their arms.