Table of Contents
How can you protect yourself from Hep C?
Here are some steps you can take to help prevent becoming infected with hepatitis C.
- Never share needles.
- Avoid direct exposure to blood or blood products.
- Don’t share personal care items.
- Choose tattoo and piercing parlors carefully.
- Practice safe sex.
How worried should I be about hep C?
Chronic Hepatitis C is a serious disease that can result in long-term health problems, including liver damage, liver failure, liver cancer, or even death. It is the leading cause of cirrhosis and liver cancer and the most common reason for liver transplantation in the United States.
What are the chances of getting Hep C from a needle stick?
The risk of transmission of HCV after a needlestick exposure from a hepatitis C-positive source is estimated at between 2-10\%.
Can you be a carrier of Hep C and not have it?
Hepatitis C can be spread if a person who doesn’t have HCV comes into contact with the blood of someone who has HCV. Although coming into contact with infected blood does pose a risk, the virus can only be spread if the infected blood enters their body through a cut or orifice.
Is Hep C really that bad?
Hepatitis C infection that continues over many years can cause significant complications, such as: Scarring of the liver (cirrhosis). After decades of hepatitis C infection, cirrhosis may occur. Scarring in your liver makes it difficult for your liver to function.
Can Hep C be transmitted through sperm?
As with many infections, HCV lives in blood and bodily fluids. You can contract hepatitis C by coming into direct contact with an infected person’s blood. It can also be transmitted by contact with bodily fluids including saliva or semen of an infected person, but this is rare.
What happens if you don’t treat hepatitis C?
Without treatment of a chronic infection, about 75\% to 85\% of people who have it get a long-term infection called chronic hepatitis C. If the condition goes untreated, it can lead to: People with hepatitis C often get a condition called cryoglobulinemia. This happens when certain proteins in your blood stick together in cold weather.
How long does a hepatitis C infection last?
Hepatitis C can range from a mild illness, lasting a few weeks, to a serious, life-long (chronic) infection. Most people who get infected with the hepatitis C virus develop chronic hepatitis C.
What are the chances of dying from hepatitis C?
15\%–25\% of chronically infected people develop chronic liver disease, including cirrhosis, liver failure, or liver cancer. 75\%-85\% of people who get infected with the hepatitis C virus develop a chronic infection. 5\%-20\% of people with chronic hepatitis C develop cirrhosis. 1\%–5\% will die from cirrhosis or liver cancer.
What are the who recommendations for treatment of hepatitis C virus (HCV)?
WHO’s updated 2018 guidelines recommend therapy with pan-genotypic direct-acting antivirals (DAAs). DAAs can cure most persons with HCV infection, and treatment duration is short (usually 12 to 24 weeks), depending on the absence or presence of cirrhosis. WHO recommends treating all persons with chronic HCV infection over the age of 12.