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.