‘A silent disease’: Manitoba hepatitis C numbers on the rise again

Dr. Kelly Kaita from U of M discusses hepatitis C in Manitoba and the urgent need for action to eliminate the virus.

Manitoba has the highest level of hepatitis C in the country and an infectious disease expert said it shows no signs of slowing down.

Doctor Kelly Kaita heads up the viral hepatitis investigative unit at the University of Manitoba.

After a ‘dramatic decrease’ of infected individuals from 2018 to 2020, federal surveillance data recorded an upswing in Manitoba hepatitis C cases in 2021, Kaita said.

That year, Manitoba recorded 42.3 cases per 100,000 people—the most in Canada and distantly followed by Saskatchewan at 38.3 and Newfoundland and Labrador at 29.8.

This trend looks to continue in the next batch of data, Kaita said.

“In 2022 data, it looks like it will be the same, and it’s suspected that that might relate to the opioid epidemic and the methamphetamine epidemic that a lot of the provinces are seeing right now.”

Hepatitis C is a viral liver infection primarily spread through blood-to-blood contact with an infected person. It causes liver inflammation and if left untreated, can cause serious liver damage.

Symptoms can take years to appear, Kaita said, meaning many who are infected don’t know to seek treatment.

“It’s a silent disease.”

While it can spread through recreational drug use, there are other common ways to contract the virus, like unprofessional tattoos or body piercings and blood transfusions prior to 1990.

However, one demographic is particularly at risk.

“If you’re in the age group born between 1945 and 1975, you’re five times more likely to have been exposed to the hepatitis C virus,” he said, noting anyone born between those years should get tested.

Kaita shared the reminder on World Hepatitis Day, an occasion to boost awareness about the disease in a World Health Organization-led push to eradicate it altogether by 2030.

He reminded those who might have a high-risk factor to get tested, as he stressed it is a curable disease.

“Get tested. Get cured, and then we can reach that 2030 goal.”

- With files from CTV’s Ainsley McPhail