Ann Jesse tackles hepatitis C with a vengeance.

• Author: LUSKY, MARK
• Position: Hep C Connection - Brief Article

Q: What club with more than 4 million members nationwide considers its own extinction its ultimate goal?

A: Denver-based Hep C Connection, the nation's leading hepatitis C support network.

Hepatitis C, identified in 1992, afflicts roughly three times as many Americans as HIV, the virus that causes AIDS. Yet more than half of those infected by hepatitis C are unaware they are ill.

And, while educational efforts have been fragmented, misinformation about the disease has run rampant.

That's changing for the better thanks largely to the efforts of Denver's Ann Jesse, 64, and her nearly 5-year-old Hep C Connection -- a hepatitis C network and support system. Now, from the halls of Congress to the corridors of the Centers for Disease Control in Atlanta, Jesse's message is being heard loud and clear.

One sign of that: Hep C Connection's pivotal role in the new statewide public education/free testing campaign. (See box.)

"She's been a champion; she's been great," said Dr. Richard Hoffman, Colorado Department of Public Health and Environment chief medical officer and state epidemiologist. "She's made (awareness) grow quite a bit in the past three or four years, setting up a network of Hep C Connection support groups across the country. It's been very effective in dealing with the problem of denial."

Hep C Connection remains the nation's only hepatitis C-focused support network. Jesse wanted to help others avoid the nightmare that started for her when a physician left her a voice-mail message that she had tested positive for the disease.

Jesse had gone in for a routine checkup following the sudden death of her brother. A liver ALT reading of 585 (40 is the top end of normal) started Jesse's quest.

"I was informed by my internist -- via impersonal voice mail communique -- that had tested positive for hepatitis C. He urged me...