Are you at risk of Hep C because you were born between 1945 1965?

Question

I saw on a website that being born between 1945 and 1965 put at risk of hep c but I could find know proof. Can someone please answer?

This is the website I found it on, http://www.cdc.gov/features/HepatitisCTesting/.

Answer 1

The site you found that on is the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. It's generally considered an authoritative source. The site states the following:

There are high rates of Hepatitis C in people born during 1945-1965. People born during 1945 through 1965 are 5 times more likely than other adults to be infected. In fact, 75% of adults with Hepatitis C were born in these years. The reasons why baby boomers have the highest rates of Hepatitis C are not completely understood.

In support of that statement, they include a link to further information (PDF). Note that in this document they mention possible reasons for the Baby Boomers to have such a high prevalence:

Hepatitis C is primarily spread through contact with blood from an infected person. Many baby boomers could have gotten infected from contaminated blood and blood products before widespread screening of the blood supply in 1992 and universal precautions were adopted. Others may have become infected from injecting drugs, even if only once in the past. Still, many baby boomers do not know how or when they were infected.