HEPATITIS C IS GROWING DANGER ON LONG ISLAND

Popularity of Tattoos, Body Piercings Contribute to Problem

Cases of hepatitis C are growing rapidly on Long Island -- and even faster
in the city -- and health officials Tuesday said a lack of funding for
surveillance and education could cause the number of infections to veer out
of control.

For the second time in less than two weeks, health experts in New York have
warned of an epidemic of the blood-borne infection, which they say could
rival the outbreak of HIV two decades ago. More than 11,000 cases of
hepatitis C are now known on Long Island. The burgeoning number of cases in
the city is worse -- between 200,000 and 300,000 -- and experts say there
is no end to the upswing in sight.

During a joint news conference, Nassau and Suffolk County health officials
reported a growing wave of hepatitis C infections spawned by body
piercings, tattooing from contaminated equipment and the popularity of
crystal methamphetamine. Crystal meth, which first rose to popularity among
long-haul truckers and in rural America, now is widely indulged in suburbs
and cities. Health experts Tuesday called it the crack of the 21st century.

"We have to identify people now," Nassau County Health Commissioner Dr.
David Ackman said Tuesday during a news briefing at his Mineola offices. He
said lack of money is hampering efforts to effectively cope with the virus.

There is virtually no funding for case control, surveillance or education,
the key areas through which public health systems curtail infectious
diseases. Government funding, Ackman underscored, would be required to run
the costly programs.

Figures for 2004 show there were 4,364 cases of chronic hepatitis C in
Nassau, but the number could be substantially higher, Ackman added, because
of the infection's long latency, which can run a decade or more. A chronic
case refers to one in which the virus already has triggered symptoms:
jaundice, fatigue, generalized itching, nausea, vomiting and clay-colored
stools.

Chronic hepatitis C causes deadly liver inflammation, that without a
transplant can lead to death. Unlike hepatitis A or B, there is no vaccine.
There are treatments for controlling hepatitis C.

Suffolk County Health Commissioner Dr. Brian Harper estimated the number of
cases was even higher in his jurisdiction, where more than 7,000 cases of
chronic hepatitis have been identified since 2001. He estimated cases are
being reported at a rate of 200 per week.

Sen. Charles Schumer (D-N.Y.) Tuesday proposed sweeping federal legislation
during the news briefing, calling for a new Liver Research Advisory Board
within the National Institutes of Health.

"We have a crisis brewing here ... and what we want to avoid is another
HIV-AIDS ," Schumer said. "We are seeing the same early signs."

Schumer also called for vaccine development and a nationwide education
program. He said a bipartisan coalition of federal legislators has proposed
the Hepatitis Control and Prevention Act to stop a widespread epidemic
before it starts. An estimated 2.7 million people are infected nationwide.

Ackman said the newly recognized wave of infections is more prevalent in
men because of the link to drug abuse. He and other experts Tuesday noted
that hepatitis C, like some other blood-borne viruses, can be sexually
transmitted. Additional routes of infection include shared intravenous
needles and intranasal straws used to snort drugs.