April 2019
UCSF HEPATITIS C PROJECT ECHO TRAINS PHYSICIANS ON FRONT LINES OF PATIENT CARE IN REDDING Redding Rancheria
The Northstate has a higher rate per capita of Hepatitis C than the rest of California. That’s one reason the Redding Rancheria Tribal Health Systems invited the UCSF ECHO Program, Extension of Community Healthcare Outcomes, to train physicians on the front lines of patient care. There was an all day session in Redding Wednesday to train primary care clinicians to manage and treat patients with Hepatitis C, which can lead to scarring, cirrhosis, and cancer of the liver with virtually no symptoms. The DeLiver Care Van was also set up at Churn Creek Health Care all day for free testing. Hepatitis C can carry a stigma, even though not all Hepatitis C patients are drug users. “It does disproportionately affect intravenous drug users, because of the route of transmission, they’re at much higher risk of being exposed to Hepatitis C, but it affects people, not just intravenous drug users, and it does affect people that may have used many, many years ago and no longer are currently using,” said Dr. Jennifer Price, a UCSF Transplant Hepatologist. Dr. Davis is the Chief of Medicine for the Redding Rancheria Tribal Health System in Shasta and Trinity Counties. He brought the UCSF team to Redding because of what he’s seen. “The counties in Northern California seem to have a higher rate of Hepatitis C. I know that one of my colleagues in Humboldt said that Hepatitis C in her clinic is more common than diabetes, which is astounding to me,” said Dr. Davis. But there is good news, in the last five years, medicines have been developed to cure almost all patients. “We have medication now that can cure the vast majority of patients with Hepatitis C. It’s pills that they have to take every day for two to three months, and that’s sufficient to eliminate the virus in more than 95 percent of patients,” added Dr. Price. The health experts say if you’re a baby boomer, it’s a good idea to have your liver checked, especially if you got a blood transfusion or a sketchy tattoo many years ago, because there was no screening for Hepatitis C back then. Article courtesy of KRCR News Channel 7