S.F. Hosts First Conference on Deadly Hepatitis C

David Tuller, Chronicle Staff Writer

Nearly 1,000 health care workers and patients gathered
in San Francisco yesterday to focus attention on the
growing epidemic of Hepatitis C, a littleknown viral
disease that kills an estimated 10,000 Americans a year.

``It's something you don't hear much about, and people
in my profession have no idea how to work with clients
who have it,'' said Ronald Duffy, a substance abuse
counselor in the East Bay who organized a daylong
conference on the disease.

Duffy, a recovering drug addict infected with the
Hepatitis C virus, said he hopes that the conference,
sponsored by the San Francisco Department of Public
Health and other agencies, will become an annual event.

An estimated 30,000 new Hepatitis C infections occur
annually in the United States, mostly through shared
needles during drug use. As many as 90 percent of
intravenous drug users are said to be carrying the C
virus.

About 4 million Americans are estimated to be infected,
although many show no symptoms and are not aware they
are capable of spreading the disease. The only approved
treatment, the drug interferon, is effective in just a
minority of cases and can cause severe side effects.

The virus can take 20 years or more to cause serious
liver complications. Many people just now becoming
symptomatic became infected through blood transfusions
undergone before widespread blood screening began in the
early 1990s.

The virus is also thought to be occasionally transmitted
through sexual activity. However, some of those infected
have no known risk factors at all.

Alan Franciscus, a San Francisco resident who was
diagnosed last year after suffering bouts of intense
fatigue, said he welcomed the increased attention being
paid to the disease.

``There's so little out there for us,'' said Franciscus,
who recently cofounded the Hepatitis C Support Project
of San Francisco, a grassroots organization that
provides emotional support, information and referrals
for people with the disease.

According to Dr. Lorna Dove, a liver disease expert from
the University of California at San Francisco, up to 85
percent of those infected with Hepatitis C become
chronic carriers. Of those, 20 percent go on to develop
cirrhosis of the liver, which can be fatal in the
absence of a liver transplant.

Thelma King Thiel, the chief executive officer of the
Hepatitis Foundation International, said that a key
danger is that many of those who are carriers don't
realize it because they feel fine. Therefore, they
continue to engage in behaviors like drinking and
smoking that can greatly accelerate the ultimate
course of the illness and contribute to liver failure.

``The liver is a noncomplaining organ,'' she said. ``It
is not jumping up and saying, `I'm in trouble, take care
of me.' We have an obligation to educate everyone about
how what we do in our daily lives can have an impact on
our liver.''

Further information about Hepatitis C can be obtained by
calling the Hepatitis C Support Project of San Francisco
at (415) 4315542 or Hepatitis Foundation International
at (800) 8910707.

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