Information on hepatitis c virus

Treatments are available that can cure most people with hepatitis C in 8 to 12 weeks. Skip directly to site content Skip directly to page options Skip directly to A-Z link. Viral Hepatitis.

Section Navigation. Facebook Twitter LinkedIn Syndicate. Hepatitis C. Minus Related Pages. What is hepatitis? All adults, pregnant women, and people with risk factors should get tested for hepatitis C. How is hepatitis C spread? Today, most people become infected with hepatitis C by sharing needles, syringes, or any other equipment used to prepare and inject drugs.

Although uncommon, people can become infected when health care professionals do not follow the proper steps needed to prevent the spread of bloodborne infections. While uncommon, hepatitis C can spread during sex, though it has been reported more often among men who have sex with men. Hepatitis C can spread when getting tattoos or body piercings in unlicensed facilities, informal settings, or with non-sterile instruments. People can get infected from sharing glucose monitors, razors, nail clippers, toothbrushes, and other items that may have come into contact with infected blood, even in amounts too small to see.

Before widespread screening of the blood supply in , hepatitis C was also spread through blood transfusions and organ transplants. Symptoms Many people with hepatitis C do not have symptoms and do not know they are infected.

People can live with hepatitis C without symptoms or feeling sick. Previous negative tests do not necessarily reflect the HCV status at the time of exposure. Source baseline testing per Option A or Option B is recommended. However, baseline testing may be indicated for other bloodborne pathogens.

Skip directly to site content Skip directly to page options Skip directly to A-Z link. Viral Hepatitis. Section Navigation. Facebook Twitter LinkedIn Syndicate. Minus Related Pages. Comparing non-safety with safety device sharps injury incidence data from two different occupational surveillance systems. J Hosp Infect ; International Safety Center.

Updated U. Surveillance for Viral Hepatitis—United States, Figure 4. Reported number of acute hepatitis C cases- United States, Infectious Diseases, January Seroconversion rates among health care workers exposed to hepatitis C virus-contaminated body fluids: The University of Pittsburgh year experience. Am J Infect Control ; Risk factors for hepatitis C virus transmission to health care workers after occupational exposure: a European case-control study. Clin Infect Dis ; Occult HCV infection in patients treated with direct-acting antiviral agents: does this phenomenon exist and is it the driving force for tumorigenesis?

October , Washington, DC. Viremia levels in hepatitis C infection among Egyptian blood donors and implications for transmission risk with different screening scenarios. Transfusion ; Sci Rep ; 9: Challenge pools of hepatitis C virus genotypes prototype strains: replication fitness and pathogenicity in chimpanzees and human liver-chimeric mouse models.

J Infect Dis ; Busch M and Kleinman S. Nucleic acid amplification testing of blood donors for transfusion-transmitted infectious diseases. CDC continues to recommend people with risk factors, including people who inject drugs, be tested regularly.

Hepatitis C is spread through contact with blood from an infected person. Today, most people become infected with the hepatitis C virus by sharing needles or other equipment used to prepare and inject drugs. For some people, hepatitis C is a short-term illness, but for more than half of people who become infected with the hepatitis C virus, it becomes a long-term, chronic infection.

Chronic hepatitis C can result in serious, even life-threatening health problems like cirrhosis and liver cancer. When symptoms appear, they often are a sign of advanced liver disease. There is no vaccine for hepatitis C.

The best way to prevent hepatitis C is by avoiding behaviors that can spread the disease, especially injecting drugs. Getting tested for hepatitis C is important, because treatments can cure most people with hepatitis C in 8 to 12 weeks. Skip directly to site content Skip directly to page options Skip directly to A-Z link. Viral Hepatitis. Section Navigation.