The average wait for a liver is two years, but some wait as long as five. We d like to see more donors because we could save more lives, Zeldin said. A lot of good tissue gets buried in the ground. At-risk workers terrified The dire need terrifies most Philadelphia firefighters, paramedics and rescue workers. They are particularly susceptible to this disease because while saving lives, they are often splattered with blood.
Infected blood can easily seep through the eyes, nose or mouth, or a small cut.
The disease can also be transmitted when intravenous drug users share needles or when those snorting cocaine share straws. Before routine blood screening in 1992, many people were infected through blood transfusions. It is rarely transmitted sexually, experts say. Many hepatitis C sufferers can t pinpoint the day they were infected, let alone emergency workers who come into contact with other people s blood almost daily. Firefighters have been exposed so much doing their job that it s particularly difficult.