Hepatitis Testing

By Sam Womack/Staff Writer

Midway through a packed agenda on Tuesday, the Santa Barbara County Board of Supervisors have a hearing scheduled to consider an increase in laboratory testing fees.

The county’s laboratory testing fees have not increased since 1988, according to a staff report presented to the supervisors.

Some of the tests, such as drug susceptibility with a mycobacteria growth indicator tube, would increase from $11.25 to $226; a rabies test is $35 but would be $192; and a hepatitis B surface antigen-confirmatory would increase from $7 to $218.

However, tests for sexually transmitted diseases would remain relatively constant other than an HIV confirmation test, which would increase by 80 percent.

The county public health laboratory mostly serves public health clinics countywide and spent the majority of labor on tests for sexually transmitted diseases, the report stated.

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The Summit Community Care Clinic is currently offering free Hepatitis C testing to eligible patients. Hepatitis C has no noticeable side effects. Roughly 5 million Americans and 86,000 Coloradans have been exposed to Hepatitis C and are unaware. Current patients may call to schedule an appointment. Those interested in becoming Care Clinic patients may pick up an application on weekdays between 8 a.m. and 5 p.m. at the clinic or call (970) 668-4040 for more information. The SCCC is a non-profit integrative health-care clinic serving the uninsured population of Summit County with affordable care. 

Hepatitis B (HBV) is the most serious type of viral hepatitis. According to the World Health Organization around 2 billion people worldwide are infected each year. In the United States, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention estimates about 1.25 million people currently have chronic hepatitis B. Individuals with chronic hepatitis B spread the infection to approximately 60,000 people each year and 5,000 people die annually from hepatitis B complications.

There is more than one type of hepatitis, but all effect the liver. Hepatitis B is caused by the HBV virus, and can be spread from mother to child during birth; it can be spread during unprotected sex, and by the use of infected needles.

Hepatitis can cause the liver to stop functioning or it may lead to cirrhosis or liver cancer, severe illness and even death. There are medications available to help stop the progression of the illness and there are vaccinations available to stop the spread of the disease.

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KAMPALA (AFP) — A hepatitis E epidemic has killed 121 people in northern Uganda, where it erupted in October last year, a health ministry official said Thursday.

The outbreak has mainly affected displaced residents in the Kitgum district returning to their homes, which lack proper hygiene, said Kenya Mugisha, the ministry's director for clinical services.

"These people are moving from IDP camps to areas with no facilities. They have poor hygiene and sanitation," Mugisha told AFP, adding that 836 new infections have been reported since August 14.

Northern Uganda is emerging from two decades of civil war and its tens of thousands of displaced inhabitants still living in camps are particularly vulnerable.

Since a fragile truce brought an end to the violence two years ago, some residents have started returning to their native villages.

Hepatitis E has a low mortality rate compared with hepatitis B and C and is spread by eating contaminated food or drinking water.

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Another Roche first in TaqMan(R) real-time PCR testing for the diagnostic lab

Last update: 1:24 p.m. EDT Sept. 4, 2008

PLEASANTON, Calif., Sept 04, 2008 /PRNewswire via COMTEX/ -- The U.S. Food & Drug Administration (FDA) has approved the Roche COBAS(R) TaqMan(R) HBV Test, the first assay for quantitating Hepatitis B Virus DNA approved in the U.S. The test uses Roche's real-time PCR technology to quantify the amount of Hepatitis B virus DNA in a patient's blood. Doctors may use viral load testing results to establish a baseline level of infection and during treatment as an aid in assessing individual responses to therapy. Widespread application of antiviral therapy along with the Hepatitis B vaccine has helped reduce prevalence; however, Hepatitis B remains a serious and potentially life threatening global disease, potentially resulting in death from extensive liver damage or liver cancer for chronically infected people.(1)

"Viral load testing with an FDA approved test has long been the standard for managing patients with HIV and Hepatitis C," said Teresa Wright, M.D., Chief Medical Officer at Roche Molecular Diagnostics. "Availability of this new Roche test enables doctors and laboratories to bring that same level of standardized viral load measurement to Hepatitis B treatment."

Hepatitis is an acute liver disease.