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Getting a blood transfusion in 1978 changed Carol Harmss life.

Donated blood wasnt screened for the hepatitis C virus when Harms, then 23, needed five units of blood during surgery. Thats because the virus hadnt even been identified or named at that time.

Blood banks didnt start routine screening for the deadly virus that attacks the liver until 1992, three years after a scientist had identified it and given it the name hepatitis C.

It wasnt until nearly two decades after her transfusion that Harms, who had been suffering such severe flu-like symptoms and exhaustion that it cut short her career with the FAA in Kansas City, learned that she had contracted hepatitis C through the transfusion.

Now as the Wichitan enters the end stage of her life after two rounds of treatment have failed, and her liver has succumbed to cirrhosis or scarring shes doing what she can to make people aware of the prevalence of the virus and treatment options and provide support for those who have the condition.

After I was diagnosed with cirrhosis (in July 2010), I knew Id be dying, so I decided with the rest of my time I want to speak up and help people who have it and educate others, said the 58-year-old Harms, who leads a monthly hepatitis C support group in Wichita. I feel God has a purpose for everyone, and if Im still here, I have a purpose.

Harms isnt alone in her concern that many people have the virus and dont even know it.

Last year, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention issued a sweeping recommendation that anyone born between 1945 and 1965 be tested for the virus.

The CDC said baby boomers born during those two decades are five times more likely to have the virus, although its not completely understood why. About 75percent of the estimated 3.2million U.S. carriers of the virus are boomers, the CDC said it estimates that 1 in 30 baby boomers is infected. As many as 15,000 Americans die each year of cirrhosis, liver cancer or other diseases related to hepatitis C.

Its known as a silent killer because some people dont develop symptoms until its too late to treat, said Raghu Chaparala, a gastroenterologist with Midwest Gastroenterology Clinics in Wichita.

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Speaking out about a silent disease