Sir, – Paul Cullen in his article "We're going to make hepatitis C a rare disease before 2030" (Health + Family, October 31st) states that the disease is dubbed the "silent killer". Indeed it is. The article focused on drug users.
However, anybody reading this letter who is not a drug user but may have shared a needle (even once), perhaps back in the 1970s or 1980s, needs to be proactive and ask their GP for a hepatitis C screening test.
As the article described, treatments for hepatitis C now are short, with few side-effects and are extremely successful. In addition, the treatment is free to the individual. There are no downsides to being tested for hepatitis C. – Yours, etc,
AILEEN MURPHY,
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Clinical Nurse Specialist,
St Vincent’s University
Hospital,
Dublin 4.