Hep "c" Question

[Hoppy]

A friend of mine told me today that he recently tested positive for Hep "C". The blood test was taken by the VA because he wanted to enter a live-in rehabilitation program. He was an Army medic from 1967 to 1970. He had a combat MOS. However, he was stationed in Germany and performed ENT examinations. He has no idea as to how and when he contracted this disease. I looked around hadits home page and could not find much about it. Where can I get info? Are there any presumptive issues? Can it be service connected? How are the symptoms rated?

Hoppy

100% for Angioedema with secondary conditions

[Hoppy]

About 3 years ago Monte Wilson (Vietnam Veterans of America ) got the first ever HEP C SC win.

His claimant used a study from England which is on the net that showed the high probability of getting Hep C from airguns.

There are numerous Hep C Veterans on the vet-

here is the VA site:

http://hepatitis.va.gov/

and I highly recommend:

http://www.hcvets.com/

If you put veterans Hepatitus into your browser you should come up with some good links-

The VA wants to rule out SC Hep vets due to any IV drug use or tattoes.

The VVA win above was a vet who never used IV drugs but did have some tattoes.

I certainly think this vet had the MOS that would expose him to Hep C in blood and he should certainly file a claim.

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

Terry and Berta,

Thanks for the links and information. MY friend has not been an IV drug user and has no tatoo's. He told me that the VA has drug tested him and only found a positive for pot. I passed the information on to him.

Hoppy

100% for angioedema with secondary conditions

[JR Reihs]

I had a certified letter sent to me a couple of years ago from the VA hospital, it stated that the VA had new rules conserning Hep-C from air guns, and I was a candidate they wanted to test for this due to air gun injections and my time of service.

I told them no thanks , after 22 years and 2 kids and multiple surgeries you now want to test me.

One thing that has always been on my mind is I cant find another Vet who has received this type of letter.

[Alex]

If there is any drug use in the picture (which is usually the case), vA will almost always pick this as the cause of Hep C I've never seen a case where air guns were tagged with being the source. Of course, where the docs cannot identify the source or don;t support their choice with reasons and doubts, your best line is benefit-of-the-doubt.

Alex

[Hoppy]

Alex,

The guy has been going to the VA as his primary care giver for 20 years. He has no history of drug use. I don't have his exact MOS codes or what ever they call them in the Army. However, he was a medic who performed examinations on people his entire two years. He was a Quaker so the Army had him do exams in non combat zones.

[Guest rickb54]

I found this info:

"Contaminated Jet Air Guns"

1 out of 10 Vietnam era Vets, have Hepatitis C. 75% of people with Hep C have military background. 600 to 800 Vietnam era Vets an hour, were line up to receive innoculations with contaminated jet air guns, i.e. guns that were not wiped up off after each use according to the manufacturer's protocol. This is the largest needle to needle contamination there is. This has all been documented but has not been released to the public, nor to medical personnel as the "most likely cause" of the epidemic of HCV . 3,441,770 people have the HC virus, 2,547,070 are VETS. These air guns have been used since the Korean war, and the same procedure, i.e. not following protocol was used until 1993. Even though the manufacturer, ped-jet, did their own experiements and found 30% contamination if proper procedures, i.e. wiping the air gun off between each use was not followed. This probable contamination is not listed and yet it is the most likely reason for needle to needle infection. One out of 10 Vietnam era vets are known to have HVC, these are only the ones being followed by the V.A. Administration. One doctor in Miami says it is probably higher, 10 to 15% Vets have Hep C. (www.hcvets.com) for all documentation. Also refer to the Center for Disease Control (CDC) who states that there is no proof of tatoos being a source of infection. Less than 1% of newly infected patients with the HC Virus report tatoos.

This is from: www.en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hepatitis_C

a good reference !!!

also try this reference: http://www.usmedicine.com/article.cfm?arti...1130&issueID=76

Edited March 20, 2006 by rickb54