On January 28, I posted an entry asking two questions. The first was, “What hepatitis C risk factors are missing from these United Healthcare Hepatitis Screening Guidelines?” (see previous post for details)

Here are other risk factors I’d add to the list:

  • Persons born in the years 1945-1965
  • Anyone whose mother may have had viral hepatitis at the time of birth
  • Veterans and military service personnel, particularly those who served during the Vietnam War era
  • Healthcare workers and anyone whose occupations involves potential blood-to-blood contact
  • Persons with tattoos, specifically if tattoos were acquired in unsterilized setting, such as in prison
  • Anyone who may have shared blood with someone known to have viral hepatitis, such as during vampire-play, blood oaths, sharing of personal hygiene utensils, etc.
  • Persons whose sexual partners were possibly infected with viral hepatitis, especially hepatitis B virus (HBV) infection; hepatitis C infection has a low sexual transmission rate among heterosexual, monogamous partners, but it is reasonable to request screening for peace of mind
Ask for question #2, intercourse, although a capital idea, is not capitalized unless it is the first word in a sentence, or referring to Intercourse, PA.