But with hepatitis C, the challenge is that most of the patients have not been diagnosed, because many are unaware they have it. Hepatitis C, often dubbed the “silent killer”, is a virus that infects the liver. The history of hepatitis C in Ireland is coloured by the scandal that saw 1,700 people, mostly women, infected by State-supplied blood products in the 1970s and 1990s. Five yearsProf Aiden McCormick, clinical director of the national hepatitis C programme, is confident Ireland is on track to eliminate the disease. Testing regimes are reduced to a minimum and delays have been ironed out so that people found to be carrying hepatitis C can be treated within weeks.

Source: The Irish Times October 31, 2019 06:00 UTC