Hepatitis C is a liver disease caused by the hepatitis C virus. When someone is first infected with the hepatitis C virus, they can have a very mild illness with few or no symptoms or a serious condition requiring hospitalization. For reasons that are not known, less than half of people who get hepatitis C are able to clear, or get rid of, the virus without treatment in the first 6 months after infection.
Most people who get infected will develop a chronic, or lifelong, infection. Left untreated, chronic hepatitis C can cause serious health problems including liver disease, liver failure, liver cancer, and even death.
The hepatitis C virus is usually spread when someone comes into contact with blood from an infected person. This can happen through:
Sharing of Drug Equipment
At birth
Through healthcare exposure from blood bourne infection
Having sex with an infected person. reported more often among men who have sex with men.
Getting tattoos or body piercings in unlicensed facilities, informal settings, or with
non-sterile instruments.
Sharing personal items. that may have come into contact with infected blood, even in amounts too small to see.
Through blood transfusions and organ transplants.
Symptoms
Many people with hepatitis C do not have symptoms and do not know they are infected. If symptoms occur, they can include: yellow skin or eyes, not wanting to eat, upset stomach, throwing up, stomach pain, fever, dark urine, light-colored stool, joint pain, and feeling tired. If symptoms occur with a new infection, they usually appear within 2 to 12 weeks, but can take up to 6 months to develop.
People with chronic hepatitis C can live for years without symptoms or feeling sick. When symptoms appear with chronic hepatitis C, they often are a sign of advanced liver disease.
Test Options
HIV/HEPB/HEPC: Identification in a panel
For more information about Hepatitis C:
https://www.cdc.gov/hepatitis/hcv/HepatitisCOverview.htm
https://liverfoundation.org/for-patients/about-the-liver/diseases-of-the-liver/hepatitis-c/
