As opioid use rises, so does hepatitis C, experts warn, so does pressure to test

FILE – In this Feb. 26, 2016, file photo, syringes are scattered among San Francisco city workers clearing the rubble of a tent city. San Francisco regulators will consider legislation on Tuesday, June 4, 2019, that would allow the city to force mentally ill drug users to stay in homes and receive treatment for up to a year. Mayor London Breed said it was inhumane to leave drug addicts languishing on the streets, but homeless advocates said the measure was extreme and a violation of civil rights. (AP Photo/Eric Riesberg, File)

AUSTIN (KXAN) — A recovering addict wants Austin advocates distributing naloxone at the Austin City Limits Music Festival to ask an important question, “Have you been tested for hepatitis C?”

Devin Lyall stresses the importance of testing for hepatitis after contracting the disease.

“I encourage anyone who provides services to people seeking recovery, or people who use drugs to encourage testing of everyone who comes through the door,” Lyle said.

“After ankle surgery, I became addicted to opioids, which I was prescribed for pain relief. As a result of developing an addiction, I ended up becoming an intravenous drug addict.”

Lyle, now the founder of a nationally recognized drug recovery group, said she has recovered from her illness through treatment.

“Hepatitis C ranks No. 1 and is known as the silent disease. Many times, people have no symptoms but later develop complications such as liver disease, liver cancer, cirrhosis, and sometimes death. It is blood-borne,” U.S. said Dr. Ada Stewart, past board president of the Academy of Family Physicians (AAFP).

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention found that the number of new hepatitis C virus infections is nearly four times the number a decade ago. It is estimated that more than 2 million people in the United States have hepatitis C, and about 4 in 10 of them do not know they have hepatitis C.

For Lyle, part of solving the problem is encouraging testing and providing harm reduction services, “Naloxone, wound care, a lot of different things can help reduce the spread of hepatitis C.”