think my objection to the word "epidemic" is because I don't treat it seriously, when in fact it';s just the opposite. It's much worse and far more difficult to control.

My sister caught what was then called Non-A Non-B hepatitis (1975). Later called Hep C. It trashed her liver, required a transplant (1983) and later dies of HIV related illness (TB - in 1987). Her transplant surgery was 1 month before blood screening began, and she has 185 units of blood or blood products in a 23 hour surgery. Those weren't good odds.

Hep C now has a vaccine and HIV can be successfully treated. Head her illness in the mid-70s been today, she'd survive. She died in 1987. That's what happens with epidemics. They end.

I don't see any end in sight for this crisis. It's horrible.