Extremely vital facts to note about Hepatitis C
Overview
Hepatitis C is a virus that can infect the liver. If left untreated, it can sometimes cause serious and potentially life-threatening damage to the liver over many years.
However, with modern treatments it's easily possible to cure the infection and most people with it will have a normal life expectancy.
Approximately one-third of the World's population have been infected with HBV. Around 5% of this population are chronic carriers and a quarter of these carriers develop serious liver diseases such as chronic hepatitis, cirrhosis and hepatic carcinoma
You can become infected with it if you come into contact with the blood of an infected person.
Symptoms of hepatitis C
Hepatitis C often doesn't have any noticeable symptoms until the liver has been significantly damaged. This means many people have the infection without realising it.
When symptoms do occur, they can be mistaken for another condition. Symptoms can include:
- flu-like symptoms, such as muscle aches and a high temperature (fever)
- feeling tired all the time
- loss of appetite
- abdominal pain
- feeling and being sick
How do you get hepatitis C
The hepatitis C virus is usually spread through blood-to-blood contact.
Some ways the infection can be spread include:
- sharing unsterilised needles – particularly needles used to inject recreational drugs
- sharing razors or toothbrushes
- from a pregnant woman to her unborn baby
- through unprotected sex – although this is very rarehave the infection.
- if you had a blood transfusion in Scotland before September 1991. For example after a traffic accident or during childbirth, you may have been exposed to unscreened donor blood that potentially carried hepatitis C. All donor blood in Scotland has been screened for hepatitis C since September 1991.
- if you have a blood transfusion, medical or dental treatment overseas where medical equipment is not sterilised properly, you may become infected with hepatitis C. The virus can survive in traces of blood left on equipment. This also applies to other potential blood to blood transmission routes such as barbers and tattoo parlours.
In the most hepatitis C infections occur in people who inject drugs or have injected them in the past. It's estimated that around half of those who inject drugs
How to know if you have Hepatitis C
Seek medical advice if you have persistent symptoms of hepatitis C, or there's a risk you're infected, even if you don't have any symptoms. A blood test can be carried out to see if you have the infection.
Your GP, sexual health clinic, GUM (genitourinary medicine) clinic or drug treatment service all offer testing for hepatitis C. Testing is available at most substance use recovery services and also a variety of third sector services. Find your nearest testing centre.
Early diagnosis and treatment can help prevent or limit any damage to your liver and help ensure the infection isn't passed on to other people.
Treatments for hepatitis C
Hepatitis C can be treated with a single, or combination of, medicines that stop the virus multiplying inside the body. Traditionally hepatitis C was treated with interferon (an injection) and ribavirin. New, all-oral medicines are now available for everyone and treatment is usually only for 8-12 weeks.
Using these latest medications, around 95% or more of people with hepatitis C will be cured. However, it's important to be aware that you won't be immune to the infection and should take steps to reduce your risk of becoming infected again .
Complications of hepatitis C
If the infection is left untreated for many years, some people with hepatitis C will develop scarring of the liver (cirrhosis). Over time, this can cause the liver to stop working properly.
In severe cases, life-threatening problems such as liver failure (where the liver loses most or all of its functions) or liver cancer can eventually develop.
Treating hepatitis C as early as possible can help reduce the risk of these problems occurring.
How to Prevent hepatitis C
There's no vaccine for hepatitis C, but there are ways to reduce your risk of becoming infected, such as:
· not sharing any drug-injecting equipment with other people – including needles and other equipment such as syringes, spoons and filters
· not sharing razors or toothbrushes that might be contaminated with blood
The risk of getting hepatitis C through vaginal sex is very low. However, it may be higher if blood is present, such as menstrual blood or from minor bleeding during anal sex.
Condoms aren't usually necessary to prevent hepatitis C for long-term heterosexual couples, but it's a very good idea to use them when having anal sex or sex with a new partner.