240,000 INFECTED WITH SLEEPING HEPATITIS C VIRUS

EDMONTON -- They haven't gone near a needle for decades, but many
middle-aged people are now shocked to discover they have hepatitis C
from a youthful dalliance with intravenous drugs.

In the 1990s, thousands of Canadians discovered they had hepatitis C
from tainted blood and blood products. But, thousands of others
acquired it from injecting drugs, and they are unaware they have the
virus because they have not yet developed any symptoms.

Health Canada estimates 240,000 Canadians are infected with the virus
which attacks the liver, and only one third know it. And almost
two-thirds of the 4,000 cases identified each year are related to drug
use.

Dr. Lorne Tyrrell, a top hepatitis C researcher, said half of his
patients used injection drugs in the past. Many are shocked when they
get their diagnosis because they equate the news to testing positive
for HIV -- the virus that's believed to cause AIDS. Unlike HIV, hep-C
might not cause any health problems, although it can be very serious,
causing cirrhosis of the liver and even death in three per cent of
cases.

Only 20 per cent of those with the virus will have symptoms after 20
years, and 60-to-70 per cent will have a normal life span, Tyrrell
said.