Hepatitis C Public Outreach Effort and Good News Too: Dr. de Jong Interviewed on NY1
Dr. Ype de Jong
Dr. Ype de Jong, Assistant Professor of Medicine (Division of Gastroenterology & Hepatology), was interviewed on NY1 regarding recent public outreach about hepatitis C in New York. He also speaks about the rapidly evolving management of this serious disease that infects the liver through blood products, and which can cause cirrhosis and liver cancer.
Last year, 750 city residents died from hepatitis C. Deputy City Health Commissioner, Dr. Jay Varma, has projected that the city may see between 10,000 to 20,000 deaths over the next 10 to 15 years. Complicating that warning is that "Most people are unaware of this infection because it barely causes symptoms," explains Dr. de Jong. Most of his patients contracted the disease from intravenous drug use or unscreened blood transfusions decades ago. He notes, however, that there is a large group of the population who are infected yet do not have those risk factors. He speaks about the challenges of managing hepatitis C in New York -- as well as much more effective and better tolerated treatments to be available next year.