UAMS to Offer Free Hepatitis C Screening June 23
| LITTLE ROCK – The An information session on the prevalence and treatment of hepatitis C is scheduled for 10 a.m. and 1 p.m. Speakers will include James Rose, M.D., assistant professor in the UAMS Division of Gastroenterology and Hepatology, and Lynn Frazier, advanced practice nurse and hepatitis C coordinator. For information, call (501) 686-5545 or (501) 686-5179. 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 or solid organ transplant before 1992, have used intravenous drugs, have frequent workplace contact with blood, have multiple sex partners, or were born to a hepatitis C-infected mother. 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’
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.