RESIDENTS in the west of Scotland at risk of hepatitis C are being urged to get tested against the “silent killer”.

The number of new cases of the infection diagnosed in the Greater Glasgow area have risen in a year by about 5% - from 623 in 2013 to 656 last year.

It is estimated that overall 37,000 people have hep C in Scotland – 20,000 diagnosed and 17,000 undiagnosed.

About 40% of Scottish cases are in the Greater Glasgow area.

In Scotland, liver-related deaths among people diagnosed with hepatitis C increased 3.2-fold from 43 in 1996 to 139 in 2013.

Now health chiefs have issued a warning following the world’s first hepatitis summit, which took place in Glasgow last week.

Professor David Goldberg, of Health Protection Scotland, said Scotland was leading the way on beating the disease – but said people who might be at risk should speak to medics.

Hepatitis C is spread by contaminated blood and may have no symptoms.

It is usually transmitted through sharing needles or other equipment to inject drugs but it was also spread through blood transfusions and organ transplants before widespread screening of blood supplies were introduced.

Mr Goldberg said: “Still nearly half of all people infected are undiagnosed.

“It’s almost invariably passed on through sharing injection equipment.

“Babies born to infected mothers as well. If we can deal with the mothers and treat them in advance of getting pregnant we can prevent children from having it.

“Rarely do people get it in other ways. The blood supply in Scotland is very safe.

“If anyone has ever injected in the past or had a blood transfusion pre October 1991 then they should come forward for hep C testing if they’ve not already done so.”

Mr Goldberg said there were “challenges” to getting people diagnosed because it is a “silent infection” which “smoulders away”.

But he said new treatment will change the face of hep C in Scotland, in the same way health teams rallied together to fight AIDS in the 1990s.

Mr Goldberg said: “We’re aiming to do what we did for HIV in Scotland. In the 1990s we completely changed the severe disease profile with AIDS more or less collapsing with the introduction of new treatments.

“We plan to do the same.

“We've got coming through now a range of new highly effective and easy to administer treatments for hepatitis C which will cure hep C.

“This is new because treatments have been challenging to take and weren’t always effective. The treatments involved injections.”

Mr Goldberg said the new treatment involves taking a pill.

He said the well-coordinated infrastructure and investment from the Scottish Government over the last 10 years meant the delivery of the new treatments would make a huge difference.

He added: It’s a big deal for Scotland but it’s a really big deal for Glasgow and the west of Scotland where nearly half of all hep C infections are there.

“If we can crack it in the west of Scotland we can crack it in the rest of Scotland.”

France-born Max Radigois attended the conference in Glasgow last week.

The 51-year-old lived with hep C for about 20 years before being diagnosed three years ago. He is now cured.

Mr Radigois called it a “silent killer”. He believes he contracted the virus after using needles to inject drugs in his early 20s.

He turned his life around soon after but he had already unknowingly been infected.

He said: “I had hepatitis C for about 20 years. I'm clear now, I'm cured of it.

“A few years ago I did treatment. Before that I lived most of my life with the virus without knowing I had it. Usually when people catch hep c it's quite symptomless for the first few years.”

Mr Radigois had problems with depression and digestion.

He visited his doctors several times but did not receive the diagnosis immediately.

He said: “Eventually I was lucky - a doctor looked a bit further and did a blood test.

“I was quite ignorant about hep C. There's this massive stigma attached to hep c. Not only are you fighting for your health but you're also fighting against the stigma.”

Mr Radigios got through aggressive treatment and now works for the Hepatitis C Trust

He said: "I've done more with myself in the last three years than I did in the whole of my life. What I feel is that hepatitis C robs you of yourself.

"I would definitely advise people to go and get checked even if it is to get a negative diagnosis. The sooner you know about this the better."