UAMS to Offer Free Hepatitis C Screening Nov. 18
| LITTLE ROCK — The University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences (UAMS) will offer free screenings for hepatitis C from 8 a.m.-4:30 p.m. Nov. 18 at the UAMS College of Public Health. Registration is not required, and screenings are limited to the first 500 participants. Hepatitis C coordinators from UAMS and the Central Arkansas Veterans Healthcare System will speak at 10 a.m. and 1 p.m. about the prevalence of the disease and treatment options. Breakfast and lunch will be provided while supplies last. Parking is available for a nominal fee on the deck located at Hepatitis C is an inflammation of the liver caused by the hepatitis C virus. It affects more than 4 million Americans and often has no symptoms. People at risk for infection include those who received a blood transfusion before 1992, have ever used intravenous drugs, have frequent workplace contact with blood, have multiple sex partners or were born to a hepatitis C-infected mother. If left untreated it can cause cirrhosis, a disease that results in scarring of the liver, liver dysfunction and liver failure. Cirrhosis is the leading cause of liver transplants. UAMS is the state’s only comprehensive academic health center, with five colleges, a graduate school, a medical center, six centers of excellence and a statewide network of regional centers. UAMS has about 2,430 students and 715 medical residents. It is one of the state’s largest public employers with about 9,400 employees, including nearly 1,000 physicians who provide medical care to patients at UAMS, Arkansas Children’s Hospital, the VA Medical Center and UAMS’