The life you save . . .

I’m finding the New York Times to be a good source of public health information – usually with an interesting personal angle. I would recommend a recent story by Dr. Pauline Chen, entitled From Needle Stick to Cure for Hepatitis.

Within this relatively short question and answer piece, Dr. Chen offers insight into the occupational hazards of medicine, provides a brief history and clinical overview of hepatitis C, and chronicles the inspiring story of Dr. Douglas Dieterich – a physician infected for many years with hepatitis C (known as non-A, non-B hepatitis at the time of his exposure).

In brief, Dr. Dieterich’s story is a testament to courage, persistence and altruism. But go ahead and read the story. I would only add one comment that his recurrent symptoms of jaundice and fever are a bit atypical. Most individuals do not experience any symptoms due to hepatitis C infection, and often get sick only after it is too late for effective treatment. Early screening and detection is therefore a key to addressing hepatitis C.

As stated previously, APCA has recently been awarded a grant to conduct hepatitis C screening and education. It’s humbling to know that our screening program leverages the fact that effective treatment now exists for hepatitis C – through some of the very research conducted by Dr. Dieterich himself. Many, many people owe a debt of gratitude to Dr. Dieterich for his persistence and his optimism, as he states it: “I think it’s the beginning of the end of hepatitis C, and this is one of the happiest statements I can make.”

- Doug Hirano, MPH, APCA Executive Director