Re: US Rep Hank Johnson (D) Georgia on F&F ...
Posted: Thu Feb 02, 2012 9:27 pm
Transfusions, although not common, are the way many people contracted it. I also personally know one EMS worker than contracted it 25-30 years ago because he didn't take the time to put on his gloves at the scene of a very bloody car accident. He has been in remission for many years. I also know one Medical Technologist that contracted it in the laboratory more than 30 years ago, long before many of today's laboratory practices were in place. Many MTs used to have food and drink on or near the bench while running tests and did not wear gloves.The Annoyed Man wrote:75% of Hep C cases are contracted by exchange of bodily fluids and/or dirty needles—which is why it is commonly found among the same people who are at risk for HIV AIDS. About 10% of cases are have other etiologies such as trasfusions sourced from unscreened donors, 5% are healthcare workers who get infected by dirty needles and exposure to infected blood, and 10% is from unknown causes. When I worked in a hospital, the Hep C patients I saw were either promiscuously gay, IV drug abusers, or prostitutes.....or all three. I suppose that there are people who contract it by other means, but they would be fewer and farther between.74novaman wrote:Its actually Hep C that is his problem.The Annoyed Man wrote:Has that guy had a stroke, or Parkinson's Disease or something? There is just something really odd about his manner—words and ideas (or lack thereof) aside......
This is the same genius who was worried if we put any more Navy personnel on Guam it might "tip the island over".In December 2009, Johnson revealed that he had been battling Hepatitis C for over a decade, which resulted in slow speech and a tendency to regularly get "lost in thought in the middle of a discussion". Johnson said that he learned he had the disease in 1998 but does not know how he contracted it. The disease has damaged his liver and led to thyroid problems.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zNZczIgVXjg
tipping comment ~1:18 mark.
So, yeah. Take comfort in the fact that this man makes the laws the rest of us are forced to live under.
