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Source: https://www.courier-journal.com/stor...ol/1021704001/
A serious liver ailment is stalking Kentucky's children. But they aren't getting care
Laura Ungar, Louisville Courier Journal Published 8:15 a.m. ET March 22, 2018 | Updated 10:46 a.m. ET March 22, 2018
A serious liver ailment is stalking Kentucky's children. But they aren't getting care
Laura Ungar, Louisville Courier Journal Published 8:15 a.m. ET March 22, 2018 | Updated 10:46 a.m. ET March 22, 2018
LEXINGTON ? Since she was four years old, Kaylee Ferrell guarded a secret. A dangerous virus lived in her small body, a germ relatives described as ?a cold in her blood.?
She?d been born with hepatitis C, an insidious liver disease her mother got shooting up drugs.
To keep other kids safe, Kaylee stashed a couple dozen pairs of latex gloves in her school backpack so she could clean up her own skinned knees and bloody noses. She spent a lot of time riding horses because they couldn't judge her like people could. And she rarely spoke of her illness because ?it made me feel extremely odd and different.?
Today, at 18, Kaylee realizes she?s one of thousands of people born with hep C.
A Courier Journal investigation found hepatitis C has skyrocketed among Kentucky births amid the state?s raging drug epidemic, but attempts to prevent, track and control the infectious, curable disease have fallen short. That means many kids don?t get the care they need, risking cirrhosis and liver cancer in adulthood ? or even early death.
State statistics obtained through an open-records request show one in 56 Kentucky births from 2014-2016 were to moms with a history of hep C. Those births more than quadrupled between 2010 and 2016, from 260 to 1,057 a year. The latest national rate, from 2014, was one in 308...
A serious liver ailment is stalking Kentucky's children. But they aren't getting care
Laura Ungar, Louisville Courier Journal Published 8:15 a.m. ET March 22, 2018 | Updated 10:46 a.m. ET March 22, 2018
A serious liver ailment is stalking Kentucky's children. But they aren't getting care
Laura Ungar, Louisville Courier Journal Published 8:15 a.m. ET March 22, 2018 | Updated 10:46 a.m. ET March 22, 2018
LEXINGTON ? Since she was four years old, Kaylee Ferrell guarded a secret. A dangerous virus lived in her small body, a germ relatives described as ?a cold in her blood.?
She?d been born with hepatitis C, an insidious liver disease her mother got shooting up drugs.
To keep other kids safe, Kaylee stashed a couple dozen pairs of latex gloves in her school backpack so she could clean up her own skinned knees and bloody noses. She spent a lot of time riding horses because they couldn't judge her like people could. And she rarely spoke of her illness because ?it made me feel extremely odd and different.?
Today, at 18, Kaylee realizes she?s one of thousands of people born with hep C.
A Courier Journal investigation found hepatitis C has skyrocketed among Kentucky births amid the state?s raging drug epidemic, but attempts to prevent, track and control the infectious, curable disease have fallen short. That means many kids don?t get the care they need, risking cirrhosis and liver cancer in adulthood ? or even early death.
State statistics obtained through an open-records request show one in 56 Kentucky births from 2014-2016 were to moms with a history of hep C. Those births more than quadrupled between 2010 and 2016, from 260 to 1,057 a year. The latest national rate, from 2014, was one in 308...