COVID and HCV Cures

When I was cured of hepatitis C in 2016 with the recent direct acting anti-viral pills, I was surprised by the amount of relief that I felt when I was given the result of hep C not detected. There was a remarkable weight lifted off my shoulders immediately. Having lived with hepatitis C for 27 years or more, I had not realised the weight I had been carrying around of feeling infectious. I noticed this further when I had my first nosebleed after being cured. I have nosebleeds from time to time and this one felt strangely freeing. I enjoyed being able to bleed and not feel worried about where the blood had dripped, bagging up my tissues, scrubbing my hands and the surfaces to ensure noone else would get my blood into their bloodstream somehow. Of course, I still did all those things but not with the sense of urgency or worry. I have really enjoyed that sense of freedom since being cured. Now in light of the COVID-19 outbreak and its impact upon our most vulnerable community members, it all feels reminiscent of when I had hep C. I can’t help feeling like I have swapped out one virus for another. I don’t have COVID -19 (yet) but I can’t help feeling those same infectious feelings and worry. Knowing that COVID-19 transmits from one person to another while people feel well really worries me. Again, I am walking around feeling infectious. I am more aware of it with COVID-19 because we should all be aware of it. Practising social distancing, constantly washing my hands for the recommended 30 seconds, maniacally singing happy birthday (in my head) twice to ensure that all traces have been washed away, desperately trying not to touch my face, staying 1.5 metres away from everyone, not shaking hands, opening doors with my elbow, surface protocolwiping door handles and regularly used surfaces with 70% alcohol. When I had hep C, even though it didn’t feel that way, the reality was that it was the responsibility of all to use universal precautions to prevent hep C transmission. With COVID-19 it is different. People should be responsible for themselves in that way but it goes further, it is about protecting others. It is about ensuring others don’t get it. We know that epidemiologists are projecting that between 20% and 80% of Australians will get COVID, that 80% of them will experience mild symptoms, that 20% that have COVID will require hospitalisation, and 5% that get it will end up in intensive care. They say that the mortality rate may be somewhere

between 50,000 to 150,000 people in this country. With prevention being our best protection until an effective vaccination is approved (when? Six, nine, twelve months from now?), I feel the weight heavily on my shoulders to ensure people that I have contact with are not infected with COVID-19 as a result of that contact with me. There are many people in my life that are predisposed to complications and higher risk of death if they were to get COVID-19. One of the most important people in my life is aged 76, has hypertension, is on non-steroidal antiinflammatory medication, has diabetes and a vitamin D deficiency, that’s 5 things that make it more likely that she will be at a higher risk of death from COVID. I don’t want her to get it and I don’t want her to be one of the people that ends up in critical care if the number of people in SA requiring health care exceeds the capability of our health care system. I am feeling weighed down with trying to do all I can to drive down the rate of new infections—but that’s OK. Thankfully, I had room on my shoulders because the weight of hep C had gone. v

Elle Jay Cee Community member