Liver deaths on rise due to 30-year-old hep C epidemic

It has caused a shock not only for the estimated 6,000 living with the illness in the Lothians, but also for NHS bosses who may have to cope with the hike.

The paper – released by the Eurosurveillance journal and the first of its type – also warned that Scotland's higher than normal alcohol problem has masked the threat of hepatitis C to the population's liver health.

People who caught the disease in the 1970s and 1980s are now entering their third and fourth decade living with the illness, and it has prompted calls for more testing of the disease.

It is estimated that half the people who have been infected don't know it. Given that it is curable in around 50 per cent of cases, it is those living in ignorance who are in most danger.

The report warned: "Over the past 15 years we have observed an increasing contribution from hepatitis C infection to mortality due to liver-related causes in Scotland.

"Deaths increased steadily among the 35-54 years age group, and the largest percentage of deaths linked to the hepatitis C diagnosis database were of people born from 1950 to 1959.

"This is consistent with infection of young people in the 1970s and 1980s – before hepatitis C was identified – and the natural history of chronic hepatitis C."

The illness has caught up with thousands of Edinburgh adults, some of whom only dabbled in drug use and discovered they were infected sometimes two decades later. It is thought that in Scotland around 100 people a year die from liver disease linked to hepatitis C, a figure set to soar.

The problem has become so noticeable that the Hepatitis C Trust – traditionally an English-based charity – opened an office in Scotland at the end of last year. A spokeswoman for the organisation said: "For people in their 50s perhaps too scared or embarrassed to get tested, it is something they really have to do, because the next step can be liver disease and death.

"It's actually just as cost effective for the NHS to treat someone now than to wait until they need treated for liver disease. People at risk only need to have injected once, or even just have had a dodgy tattoo."

Scottish agencies Health Protection Scotland and ISD Scotland were also involved in producing the publication.

The report continued: "Hepatitis C infection constitutes a significant, growing, public health burden in Scotland in terms of mortality from liver disease.

"A better understanding of the risk factors associated with developing hepatitis C-related liver disease will improve treatment and survival."

'Stupid mistake' that cost Petra

PETRA Wright "dabbled" briefly in drugs as a teenager, but decades later it caught up with her.

The 56-year-old was diagnosed with hepatitis C 25 years after the "stupid" mistake, and had long since turned her life around. Now having battled the disease for years, she is set to embark on a course of treatment this summer to finally rid herself of the condition.

When diagnosed she had to change her diet and give up alcohol, and even went to work for the Hepatitis C Trust, where she is now the charity's Scottish officer. She said: "Treatment is changing all the time and they're getting really quite smart at it.

"There is no reason for people not to get tested if they suspect they might have it.

"The symptoms are such that it's not always obvious, but new tests coming in can give you the result in 20 minutes.

"There's no need for it to be a death sentence.

"I think some people maybe assume it's something you have to manage – like HIV – rather than can simply cure."