US baby boomers urged to take hepatitis C blood test

US baby boomers have been advised by health officials for the first time to get tested for the liver-destroying virus hepatitis C. 

Those born between 1945-1965 are most likely to be infected but it is thought only a quarter of this generation has been tested for the virus.

The US Centers for Disease Control (CDC) believes its campaign could save more than 120,000 lives.

The CDC estimates some 17,000 hepatitis C infections currently occur each year.

Health officials believe hundreds of thousands of infections occurred each year in the 1970s and '80s, when baby boomers would have been young adults.            Full Read