This is the same group that began that public school experiment called “sex education.”
STD Numbers on Upswing for Baby Boomers
A February report by UPI.com revealed that researchers in the United States, Canada and England discovered an upswing in the numbers of baby boomers reporting sexually transmitted diseases, including chlamydia, syphilis and gonorrhea. Researchers theorize that in addition to many people in this age group not practicing safe sex, post-menopausal women are at greater risk for micro-tears due to decreased lubrication, with the tiny tears providing entry portals for the infectious organisms.
Health Care Providers Put on Notice
On Wednesday, the United Nations' health agency, the World Health Organization, put health care providers around the world on notice about being vigilant in their surveillance of the antibiotic-resistant strain of gonorrhea that is expected to eventually be found throughout the world. According to an AP report, the drug-resistant strain of gonorrhea has currently been identified in nations such as Norway, Japan and Britain.
What's the Risk?
Currently, the drug-resistant strain that concerns health experts has been developing a resistance to all the antibiotics currently used to treat this STD. As this strain of gonorrhea continues to develop and mutate, it is likely to become immune to all current treatments, reports Forbes.com. This could result in an incurable form of a sexually transmitted disease that is the second-highest reported communicable disease in the United States.
Bottom Line
Baby boomers didn't have to be concerned about deadly types of STDs during the heyday of their youth, so it can seem like those "teenagers" diseases aren't a concern in mid-life. Safe sex is important for sexually active adults at any age, as well as taking antibiotics for any condition exactly as prescribed to help avoid the development of future "super germs."
Smack dab in the middle of the baby boomer generation, L.L. Woodard is a proud resident of "The Red Man" state. With what he hopes is an everyman's view of life's concerns both in his state and throughout the nation, Woodard presents facts and opinions based on common-sense solutions.
Most cases of the potentially deadly disease occur in this age group, and most were infected in their teens and 20s and don't know they are infected, the agency said.
"CDC views this as an unrecognized health crisis and we needed to take a bold action because current strategies weren't working," said Dr. John Ward, director of the division of viral hepatitis at CDC's National Center for HIV/AIDS, Viral Hepatitis, STD, and TB Prevention.
"The recommendation is for a one-time hepatitis C virus test for all persons born between 1945 and 1965," Ward said.
Deaths from the virus topped 15,000 in 2007, according to the CDC.
"The great majority of people -- 75 percent -- of the 3.2 million Americans living with hepatitis C are in the so-called baby boom generation," Ward noted.
Baby boomers have a rate of infection about five times higher than others because they were young adults before the cause of hepatitis C was discovered in 1989, he explained.
Before that, the blood supply wasn't screened for the virus, which enabled it to spread through transfusions.
Drug use also is a risk. The virus passes from person to person through shared needles and snorting cocaine, Ward said.
Hepatitis C can be treated with antiviral medications, and as many as 75 percent of those infected can be cured, he pointed out.
If hepatitis C is not detected and not treated, it can lead to cirrhosis of the liver or liver cancer.
"Liver cancer is the fastest rising cause of cancer deaths in the United States, and hepatitis C is the major cause of liver cancer," Ward said.
The number of new hepatitis C infections has decreased from several hundred thousand a year to about 17,000 currently. Besides screening the blood supply, this decline is attributed to improved infection control in hospitals and public education about the disease, he said.
The current recommendation is to test only people with known risk factors, which include HIV, drug use and people with signs of liver disease. By targeting baby boomers, it's thought that an additional 800,000 people living with hepatitis C could be identified and more than 120,000 hepatitis C-related deaths prevented, the CDC said.
The proposal will be available for public comment and then finalized later in the year.
Dr. Marc Siegel, an associate professor of medicine at New York University Langone Medical Center in New York City, said he supports the proposal.
"Hepatitis C is a real killer. It leads to a lot of cirrhosis and liver failure and need for liver transplants. It's a subclinical infection and it's often missed until it's too late," he said.
More information
For more information on hepatitis C, visit the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
What are the new recommendations?
The CDC is primarily proposing changes to the way hepatitis C testing is approached in regard to the baby boomer generation. The agency is amending its testing guidelines to recommend everyone born from 1945 to 1965 to be tested for the disease.Why the proposed changes?
HealthDay News reported the CDC is calling the prevalence of hepatitis C an "unrecognized health crisis," according to Dr. John Ward, who runs the CDC's viral hepatitis division. Hepatitis C can cause serious liver diseases, including liver cancer. It is by far the most common reason people end up needing liver transplants.Why target the baby boom generation?
Infection in this age group is comparatively high. One in 30 baby boomers has hepatitis C, which is spread by exposure to contaminated blood. Some 2 million of the 3.2 million Americans of those who have hepatitis C are of the baby boom generation, according to BBC News.Why is hepatitis C more prevalent in baby boomers?
The U.S. only started screening the donated blood used in transfusions in 1992, when the risk factors involved in contracting HIV were better understood. Older Americans have a greater chance of having received a transfusion with tainted blood because of it. Hepatitis C is also connected with intravenous drug use.What will testing do?
Many people don't know they have the disease, as it can be asymptomatic for quite some time. Testing will allow for treatment before a person can develop the more serious physical ailments associated with hepatitis C, including cirrhosis of the liver or cancer. Approximately 75 percent of hepatitis C infections can be cured due to new therapies that have been developed, according to Reuters.Vanessa Evan is a musician and freelance writer based in Michigan, with a lifelong interest in health and nutrition issues.
