Lifestyle

The One-Time Blood Test for a Silent Liver Virus That Many Checkups Never Include

By Curtis Jones · November 2, 2026

A routine checkup often includes blood work for cholesterol, blood sugar and kidney function. One blood test that federal health officials say every adult should have at least once is easy to go a lifetime without.

It is a screening test for hepatitis C, a liver disease caused by the hepatitis C virus. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention says many people with hepatitis C don’t look or feel sick, so they might not know they have the virus. Left untreated, the agency says, it can lead to serious liver problems, like scarring and cancer.

The CDC estimates that more than 2.4 million people, and as many as 4 million, had hepatitis C from 2017 to 2020. It calls chronic hepatitis C a leading cause of liver cancer and the leading cause of liver transplants in the United States.

What makes the virus easy to miss is how quietly it works. The CDC says most people who get infected develop a chronic, or lifelong, infection. People with chronic hepatitis C usually have no symptoms, or only general ones like chronic tiredness or depression. You can live without symptoms for years, the agency says, so testing is the only way to know.

Who should be tested. Since April 2020, the CDC has recommended hepatitis C screening for all adults 18 and older at least once in their lifetime. The U.S. Preventive Services Task Force issued a similar recommendation that year: screening for hepatitis C in adults ages 18 to 79. Before that, the task force recommended screening adults born between 1945 and 1965 and others at high risk. It also suggests clinicians consider screening people older than 79 who are at high risk.

Why it gets skipped. The task force noted that national screening rates were low, citing figures of 8.3% in community health centers and 17.3% from the National Health Interview Study. One study of four safety-net primary care practices found that only 0.8% of people born from 1945 through 1965 were screened over one year.

How the test works. The CDC says a doctor draws blood for an antibody test, which shows whether you have ever been infected. If it comes back positive, the lab automatically tests the same sample for the virus itself. A positive antibody result alone may not mean you have hepatitis C now, the agency says, since antibodies stay in the blood even after the virus is cleared or cured.

Most adults need to be screened only once, according to the task force. The CDC recommends repeat testing for people with ongoing risks, and one-time testing for groups that include anyone who received blood or organ donations before July 1992 or who ever injected drugs, even once or long ago.

Treatment has changed. The CDC says most treatments involve 8 to 12 weeks of pills and cure more than 95% of patients, usually without side effects. There is no vaccine for hepatitis C.

What Medicare covers. Medicare Part B covers a hepatitis C screening when a primary care doctor or other provider orders it and you meet at least one condition: you were born between 1945 and 1965, had a blood transfusion before 1992, or use or have used illicit injection drugs. Medicare says you pay nothing if your provider accepts assignment. For people born in those years who aren’t otherwise high risk, it covers the test once in a lifetime.

If you aren’t sure whether you’ve ever been tested, the simplest step is to ask at your next visit. The CDC says to talk to your doctor to get tested.

This article is for general information and is not medical advice. Talk with your doctor about whether you have been screened for hepatitis C. This article was produced with the assistance of AI and fact-checked against the sources cited by LightWave Reports.