The Best Hepatitis C Test And Accurate For You To Use

Hepatitis C is an infection caused by a virus that attacks the liver and leads to inflammation. Most people infected with the hepatitis C virus (HCV) have no symptoms. In fact, most people don't know they have the hepatitis C infection until liver damage shows up, decades later, during routine medical tests.

Hepatitis C is one of several hepatitis viruses and is generally considered to be among the most serious of these viruses. Hepatitis C is passed through contact with contaminated blood — most commonly through needles shared during illegal drug use.

Most people have no symptoms until the virus causes liver damage, which can take 10 or more years to happen. Others have one or more of the following symptoms :

# yellowish eyes and skin, called jaundice

# a longer than usual amount of time for bleeding to stop

# swollen stomach or ankles

# easy bruising

# tiredness

# upset stomach

# fever

# loss of appetite

# diarrhea

# light-colored stools

# dark yellow urine

Hepatitis C is chronic when the body can’t get rid of the Hepatitis C virus. Although some people clear the virus from their bodies in a few months, most Hepatitis C infections become chronic. Without treatment, chronic Hepatitis C can cause scarring of the liver, called cirrhosis; liver cancer; and liver failure.

Your risk of hepatitis C infection is increased if you :

# Are a health care worker who has been exposed to infected blood

# Have ever injected illicit drugs

# Have HIV

# Received a piercing or tattoo in an unclean environment using unsterile equipment

# Received a blood transfusion or organ transplant before 1992

# Received clotting factor concentrates before 1987

# Received hemodialysis treatments for a long period of time

# Were born to a woman with a hepatitis C infection

You can protect yourself and others from hepatitis C if you :

# do not share drug needles

# wear gloves if you have to touch another person’s blood

# use a condom during sex

# do not borrow another person’s toothbrush, razor, or anything else that could have blood on it

# make sure any tattoos or body piercings you get are done with sterile tools

# do not donate blood or blood products if you have hepatitis C

Testing for hepatitis C infection in people who have a high risk of coming in contact with the virus may help doctors begin treatment or recommend lifestyle changes that may slow liver damage. This is recommended because hepatitis C infection often begins damaging the liver before it causes signs and symptoms.

Get For Your Personal Rapid Chlamydia Test

Chlamydia trachomatis infection is the most prevalent sexually transmitted infection worldwide; thus, rapid detection and treatment are crucial to prevent further transmission. Investigators assessed the performance of the Chlamydia Rapid Test using self-collected vaginal swab specimens from women. The gold standard of comparison was polymerase chain reaction testing of first-void urine specimens.

Chlamydia, caused by the bacterium Chlamydia trachomatis, is the most common sexually-transmitted bacterial infection in the UK, particularly amongst sexually active men and women aged 16-24 years.
In the majority of cases, the disease is asymptomatic in both men and women. If symptoms show, they may include discharge or pain when passing urine for men. Recent research suggests that, if untreated – even when no symptoms show – it may be a cause of reduced fertility. In women, it can lead to even more serious complications, such as pelvic inflammatory disease, chronic pelvic pain and ectopic pregnancy.

Screening has recently shown that in some parts of Britain, 10 per cent to 20 per cent of young adults have chlamydia.
Chlamydia can be cured, but unfortunately it often produces no symptoms in either men or women, so it can remain undetected.

Some women may experience: cystitis, change in vaginal discharge, mild lower abdominal pain.
These are very 'non-specific’ symptoms and can be caused by other infections and diseases. If you go to a GP or family planning doctor with these symptoms, make sure you have a chlamydia test. You are entitled to ask for the test if you aren't offered it.
In men, chlamydia often causes of discharge from the penis. Sometimes it can cause mild irritation at the tip of the penis that disappears after two or three days.
Many men will wait to see if the discomfort goes away. While the discomfort may disappear, the man can still harbour the infection.
If in doubt, get tested. Otherwise, you could put yourself at risk of inflamed and swollen testicles, and pass chlamydia on to your partner.

Once diagnosed, Chlamydia can be treated easily with a one-off antibiotic pill. However, until now, male rapid tests for Chlamydia have been relatively inaccurate and involved urethral swabs, which can cause discomfort.
The Chlamydia Rapid Test, a urine test can be used with minimal training. It is designed to be used in conjunction with FirstBurst, a device for collecting the first voided urine from men. FirstBurst collects six times the amount of Chlamydia bacteria compared to a standard urine sample to boost the test's sensitivity and gives the results in less than an hour.

Basic Facts About Hepatitis A, B, and C

How you can contract it; Functions of the liver; What can happen when hepatitis progresses--fibrosis, cirrhosis, liver cancer, liver failure

Hepatitis is considered one of the most prevalent health problems of the 1990s. The World Health Organization reports that 1.4 million cases of Hepatitis A are treated annually worldwide. In the United States, close to 5 million adults have hepatitis B or C, and this may be only a small percentage of the total of infected individuals.

Hepatitis A:
Hepatitis A (HAV), the most prevalent type of hepatitis worldwide, strikes more than 150,000 people in the United States annually.

Hepatitis B:
Each year, more than 250,000 people contract hepatitis B (HBV) in the United States.

Hepatitis C:
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) estimates that up to 30,000 individuals acquire hepatitis C (HCV) infections in the United States each year. In other parts of the world, the rates of infection and numbers in infected individuals range as high as 20 percent of the population. Called "an emerging public health threat" and the "silent epidemic," hepatitis C is a leading cause of cirrhosis and liver cancer, and is now the leading reason for liver transplantation in the United States.

Risk factors

Major risk factors for Hepatitis A
The CDC lists household or sexual contact, day care attendance or employment, and recent international travel to areas with poor sanitation as major known risk factors for infection with hepatitis A. Eating food prepared by infected food handlers and using contaminated needles are other risk factors.

Major risk factors for Hepatitis B
In the United States, the major risk factors for hepatitis B are unprotected sex with multiple partners and intravenous (IV) drug use.

Major risk factors for Hepatitis C
The major risk factors for acquiring hepatitis C are IV drug use and transfusion of blood or blood products prior to 1992. Other risk factors also contribute.

 

Hepatitis

Use Equipment Hepatitis B Test An Accurate

Hepatitis B is a viral infection of the liver, which follows a very variable course. The hepatitis B virus (HBV) can cause an acute illness that resolves itself quickly without causing long-term liver damage. However, in about 20% of cases it causes a chronic illness that lasts more than six months, sometimes for life, with symptoms that come and go. In 15-40% of those with chronic infection cirrhosis, liver cancer or liver failure develop, and so the infection may eventually be fatal.

The virus is usually transmitted through contact with infected blood or body fluids. Only a tiny amount of blood is needed to transmit the virus because it's so infectious. The hepatitis B virus may also be present in saliva, vaginal secretions, breast milk and other bodily fluids. Many people contract hepatitis B while on holiday, especially in countries where it is very prevalent, when unprotected sex, experimenting with drugs and accidents needing medical treatment are far more likely.

The incubation period of the hepatitis B virus before symptoms develop is between six weeks and six months. In the acute phase symptoms vary. Roughly one-third of cases have no symptoms - this is called a silent or subclinical infection, or sometimes anicteric infection, meaning there is no jaundice or yellow appearance of the skin and membranes. In another third of cases, the infection causes mild symptoms similar to those of a flu-like illness, with weakness, aches, headache, fever, loss of appetite, diarrhoea, jaundice, nausea and vomiting. In the final third of cases, the acute phase of infection can cause severe illness that last many months. In addition to the flu-like symptoms, there's abdominal pain, diarrhoea and jaundice.

Infections Associated with AIDS

Because people with AIDS have weakened immune systems, they're more prone to infections, called opportunistic infections. Opportunistic infections are caused by organisms that typically don't cause disease in healthy people but affect people with damaged immune systems. These organisms attack when there's an opportunity to infect.
Deterioration of the immune system is caused by the decline in CD4+ T cells, which are key infection fighters. As soon as HIV enters the body, it begins to destroy these cells.

Opportunistic Infections: Brain
Cryptoccoccal Menigitis — This is a yeast-like fungus infection that usually involves the brain and lungs, although it can affect almost any organ. The fungus that causes this condition is found in soil throughout the world. It is most common in soil contaminated by bird droppings. This disease most often occurs when a person's CD4+ T cell count falls below 100 cells per cubic millimeter of blood.