Screening may reveal thousands more hepatitis C sufferers

Up to half a million people in the UK are thought to be infected without knowing it.

Now, a pilot scheme in 19 pharmacies across the UK has identified a far higher rate of people with the virus than the number picked up by family doctors.

One in six people tested in pharmacies came back as positive for hepatitis C, which can be transmitted through infected blood, or hepatitis B, which can also be transmitted through other bodily fluids.

The Royal Pharmaceutical Society and the Hepatitis C Trust said the results show the need for wider screening.

Hepatitis C can cause serious liver disease and liver cancer but many people carry the disease for years with no symptoms.

Famous sufferers include Body Shop founder Dame Anita Roddick, who caught the virus from a blood transfusion she received during the birth of her daughter. She died in 2007.

Celebrities with the virus include actress Pamela Anderson and guitarist Keith Richards and singers Marianne Faithfull and Natalie Cole.

Anyone given a blood transfusion before September 1991 or blood products before 1986 could be at risk of infection. A major route of transmission is people sharing needles for injecting drugs.

Yesterday's results involved pharmacies offering the test to patients at risk, who were all identified through a series of questions.