Hepatits C Increasing among Blacks

Updated: Wednesday, 09 Sep 2009, 6:07 PM CDT
Published : Wednesday, 09 Sep 2009, 6:07 PM CDT

HOUSTON - If you abuse your body, one day you will end up paying for it. Just ask Carmen Camacho.

"What I did not do is take care of myself at that time I continued to use drugs and alcohol," said Camacho. She is now a statistic; a woman living with Hepatitis C, a viral disease that eventually leads to the destruction of the liver.

Camacho told FOX 26 News, "After researching it, I saw really how much of a killer it is. You can't live without a liver."

The Floridian, who now calls Houston home, said she contracted the disease through intravenous drug use. Hepatitis C is one of those silent killers that in some cases has no symptoms, which is a concern for outreach groups, especially in the African American community in Houston.

Robin Bennett said, "If our community leaders don't speak out, it's not going to be an epidemic, it's going to be a pandemic."

Workers at the Texas Liver Coalition say that they have seen a significant increase in the disease after two years of testing in Houston.

Some alarming statistics include the following: Hepatitis C is 4 times more prevalent and 10 times more infectious than HIV. Between 10,000 and 12,000 people die from the disease each year.

In Texas, more than 300,000 people have tested positive for Hepatitis C. 70 percent of people who have contracted it do not know that they have it. There has also been an 11 percent jump in cases testing positive over two years.

So how is Hepatitis C spreading in the African American community in Houston?

"Tattooing, IV drug use, razor sharing, toothbrush sharing, body piercing ... are the cause of the spread of this disease," said Bennett.

Camacho has learned her costly lesson; she says now her focus on survival with hepatitis c even though there is no known cure ... just a lifetime of treatment.