COVID Etiquette

We all learn how to behave socially, and the rules vary based on our cultural backgrounds. We may shake hands, high-five, hug or air-kiss when greeting others.  In some cultures, you never chew with your mouth open, while in others nobody really care. For some, it’s fine to toss money to the person you’re paying; for others that is extremely offensive.

In the current COVID situation, until there are effective vaccines or treatments, the only effective safeguard we have is being careful in how we interact with others: how we greet each other, how we behave in groups, how we project expectations of others’ behaviour, and how we react to unexpected situations.

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When treatment, and everything else, goes wrong: David’s story

I have been reading the Hepatitis SA Community News for a long time, perhaps since its inception! I have always been interested to read other people’s stories of living with hep C. The time has come for me to tell my tale.

I have been living with the hep C virus for over 30 years, contracting it some time in the mid-to-late ‘80s. In my late teens and early twenties I discovered that injecting various drugs was a wonderful form of escape. My need to obliterate myself during this period was the result of having been sexually abused in my early teens by the leader of a NSW Church of England Boys Society group.

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Release Hep Funds to Meet Targets

The Australian Government has used the delayed 2020 Federal Budget to commit to funding for several vital areas of hepatitis research, including pathogen genomics, prison-based interventions, and point-of-care testing. However, Australia’s hepatitis community has a right to view this commitment with some scepticism.

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Still Out There – hep C which has a cure & hep B which has a vaccine…

In these COVID-focused times, it is worth remembering that there are other viruses out there, active in our community. World Hepatitis Day reminds us that over 226,500 Australians – including over 12,000 South Australians – live with the hepatitis B virus, and the hepatitis C virus still affects the health of 114,000 Australians despite the availability of highly effective Medicare-funded treatments.

While South Australia has done well in treating people with chronic hepatitis C, the rate of treatment uptake has been dropping dramatically; and our state’s hepatitis B clinical care uptake is below national average, and well below the National Strategy target.

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Newborn Resistance

Exploring the low rate of HCV infection in newborns

Unlike other blood-borne viruses such as HIV and hepatitis B, the risk of a baby being infected with hepatitis C during the mother’s pregnancy or during birth is very low. Only about 5% of babies born to mothers who have hepatitis C are themselves infected by the disease.

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