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
This type of hepatitis is caused by the hepatitis C virus (HCV). Although generally a mild condition, hepatitis C is much more likely than hepatitis B to lead to chronic liver disease. People infected with HCV can become chronic carriers of the virus, although they may have no symptoms. It is estimated that there are approximately 4 million HCV chronic carriers. Around 70 percent of all HCV carriers will develop chronic liver disease, regardless of whether they have symptoms.
HCV is spread primarily by exposure to human blood. Approximately 80 percent of persons who share needles to inject drugs are infected with HCV. Persons who receive blood transfusions face some risk. Hepatitis C has been transmitted between sex partners and among household members, but the degree of risk is believed to be low. HCV is not spread by food or water or casual contact, such as shaking hands or sharing a work space or bathroom facility.
There are risks for those who are close to you if you have hepatitis C and not know it. There are many ways to spread hepatitis C, including through personal care items (such as razors or toothbrushes) or household accidents that bring people into contact with your blood.
Who should consider being tested for hep C?
==> People Ever injected drugs or steroids
==> Anyone Yang Yang was born from mothers positive hep C during pregnancy
==> People have been experiencing Syringe Injuries
==> People have been emigrating from countries where the hep C is the area (eg Angola, Egypt, Iraq, Italy, Pakistan)
==> The Surgical Procedure That has done in developing countries
==> One who has a body piercing or tattooing
==> One who has snorted drugs
==> One who has a blood transfusion or bleeding Products used in Australia in February 1990 before
==> People that do not fit the profile at the top, but have abnormal liver function tests or Yang Yang have symptoms of hep C.
A test is now available to identify antibody (proteins produced by the immune system in response to the virus) to HCV, which is present in approximately 50 percent of persons with early hepatitis C infections and in almost all with chronic hepatitis C infections.
So, you owe it to yourself and your loved ones to get tested and find out about all your options hepatitis C treatment.
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