A potentially deadly liver disease is on the rise in southwest Florida, and experts say it's linked to the country's heroin epidemic.
Hepatitis C is transmitted through needles and sexual activity, and experts say in the last year more people are walking through the doors of drug treatment centers with Hepatitis C.
Brandon Short of White Sands Treatment Center said 30 percent of the patients there have the disease and typically have no idea.
Experts and former addicts have said heroin changes who you are and takes over your whole life.
The drug is deadly, and Short said White Sands Treatment Center lost four people to heroin overdose last year.
Short said the drug can strike twice.
"Either once with an overdose during your addiction, and then when you decide to go to your doctor and then the doctor diagnoses you with Hepatitis C," Short said.
It's a disease Short said has seen an astonishing increase in southwest Florida.
"It's certainly a cause of concern for anybody who does intravenous drugs, heroin or cocaine," he said.
But Hepatitis C can be transmitted sexually, and whether it's through sexual activity or through a needle, it only takes one time to get infected.
Dr. Rick Wilson of Wilson Wellness Center said the number one reason for the spike in Hepatitis C is the spike in heroin use.
"But because of IV drug use, you have a lot of people who aren't willing to say, 'Oh, that's what I did, and that's how I got it," Dr. Wilson said.
He said the disease doesn't always show symptoms, and usually catches it in patients during annual health screenings.
"A tragic thing to see, but it is becoming a younger person's problem," Dr. Wilson said.
He said the disease can lead to cirrhosis or liver cancer, and recommends if you use intravenous drugs, get checked immediately.
Both Short and Dr. Wilson said the age group where they're seeing heroin use, and in turn Hepatitis C, is in the 18-25 year old range, along with the older population who used heroin back in the 70s when it was more commonly accepted.
