Doctors for years have urged people with very specific risk factors — a history of intravenous drug use, needlestick injuries, or a medical record that includes a blood transfusion or organ transplant— to be tested for hepatitis C.

But now, the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention is recommending that all baby boomers be tested for the disease, saying that people born between 1945 and 1965 have the highest rate of infection and could benefit from early treatment.