The United Kingdoms insurance companies agreed with the Department of Health and Social Care that until 2017 customers would not need to disclose predictive genetics tests to them, but this agreement explicitly excluded the government-approved test for Huntingtons when writing policies with a value over £500,000. As with other untreatable genetic conditions with a later onset, it is ethically questionable to perform pre-symptomatic testing on a child or adolescent, as there would be no medical benefit for that individual. There is consensus for testing only individuals who are considered cognitively mature, although there is a counter-argument that parents have a right to make the decision on their childs behalf. With the lack of an effective treatment, testing a person under legal age who is not judged to be competent is considered unethical in most cases.There are ethical concerns related to prenatal genetic testing or preimplantation genetic diagnosis to ensure a child is not born with a given disease. For example, prenatal testing raises the issue of selective abortion, a choice considered unacceptable by some. As it is a dominant disease, there are difficulties in situations in which a parent does not want to know his or her own diagnosis. This would require parts of the process to be kept secret from the parent. Support organizations
In 1968, after experiencing HD in his wifes family, Dr. Milton Wexler was inspired to start the Hereditary Disease Foundation (HDF), with the aim of curing genetic illnesses by coordinating and supporting research.
Epidemiology
Carrións disease, or Oroya fever, or Peruvian wart is a rare infectious disease found only in Peru, Ecuador, and Colombia. It is endemic in some areas of Peru, is caused by infection with the bacterium Bartonella bacilliformis, and transmitted by sandflies of genus Lutzomyia. Cat scratch disease occurs worldwide. Cats are the main reservoir of Bartonella henselae, and the bacterium is transmitted to cats by the cat flea Ctenocephalides felis. Infection in cats is very common with a prevalence estimated between 40 and 60%, younger cats being more commonly infective. Cats usually become immune to the infection, while dogs may be very symptomatic. Humans may also acquire it through flea or tick bites from infected dogs, cats, coyotes, and foxes.Trench fever, produced by Bartonella quintana infection,  is transmitted by the human body louse Pediculus humanus corporis. Humans are the only known reservoir. Thorough washing of clothing may help to interrupt the transmission of infection.A possible role for ticks in transmission of Bartonella species remains to be elucidated; in November 2011, Bartonella rochalimae, B. quintana, and B. elizabethae DNA was first reported in Rhipicephalus sanguineus and Dermacentor nitens ticks in Peru. History
Carrións disease
The disease was named after medical student Daniel Alcides Carrión from Cerro de Pasco, Peru. Carrión described the disease after being inoculated at his request with the pus of a skin lesion from patient Carmen Paredes in 1885 by Doctor Evaristo M. Chávez, a close friend and coworker in Dos de Mayo National Hospital.