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Beebe Medical Center's Hepatitis C Support Group Meets May 22

05/11/07

Beebe Medical Center's new Hepatitis C Support Group will meet for the second time on Tuesday, May 22, from 5 p.m. to 6:30 p.m. in the Tunnell Cancer Center Conference Room at the Beebe Health Campus. The support group was created for those with the disease and for their family members and others who are supportive of them.

Hepatitis C is a serious and chronic liver disease caused by the hepatitis C virus (HCV) and often has no symptoms in its early stages. According to the Delaware Division of Public Health, more than 150 Sussex County residents have been diagnosed with hepatitis C. If left untreated, hepatitis C can lead to liver cancer, liver failure or cirrhosis. The (HCV) virus is spread through contact with infected blood, through sex with an infected person, and from mother to baby during childbirth.

It is important that those with this virus are diagnosed and treated and receive support from as many different sources as possible. The Beebe Medical Center support group will have an educational component and provide emotional support to those who participate. It will meet monthly in the Tunnell Cancer Conference Room, located in Tunnell Cancer Center at the Beebe Health Campus on Route 24 in Rehoboth Beach. Participants are asked to enter the conference room through the main doors of the Medical Arts Building, rather than walking through the Cancer Center.

The first meeting took place April 24. The group will meet on the fourth Tuesday of each month through November 2007. For additional information, please call (302) 645-3337.

Beebe Medical Center is a not-for-profit community medical center with a mission to encourage healthy living, prevent illness, and restore optimal health with the people residing, working, or visiting in the communities we serve. For more information, please visit us online at www.beebemed.org