What is hepatitis C?
Hepatitis C is a virus, or infection, that causes liver disease and inflammation of the liver. Viruses can cause sickness. People can pass viruses to each other. Inflammation is swelling that occurs when tissues of the body become injured or infected. Inflammation can cause organs to not work properly.
What is the liver?
The liver is an organ that does many important things. Life is not possible without a liver.
Hepatitis C is a virus, or infection, that causes inflammation of the liver
Some functions of the liver include:
- Removing harmful chemicals from the blood
- Fighting infection
- Aiding in food digestion
- Storing nutrients and vitamins
- Storing energy
Who gets hepatitis C?
Anyone can get hepatitis C, but those risk factors include:
- Born to a mother with hepatitis C
- Contact with blood, needles, or body fluids at work
- Live with someone who currently has an active hepatitis B infection
- More than one sex partner in the last 6 months or have a history of sexually transmitted disease
- Kidney dialysis, the process of filtering wastes and extra water from the body by means other than the kidneys
- Taking medicines that suppress the immune system, such as steroids or chemotherapy medicines
- Lived in or travel often to parts of the world where hepatitis B is common
- From Asian and Pacific Island nations
- Infected with HIV
- Injected illegal drugs
- Blood transfusion or organ transplant before July 1992
- Received clotting factor for hemophilia before 1987
- Homosexual males
How could a person get hepatitis C?
Hepatitis C is transmitted through contact with an infected person’s blood, sexual contact, or other body fluid. This contact could occur by:
- Being born to a mother with hepatitis C
- Accidental stick with a needle that was used on an infected person
- Unprotected sex with an infected person
- Contact with blood or open sores of an infected person
- Sharing drug needles or other drug materials with an infected person
- Tattooed or pierced with unsterilized tools that were used on an infected person
- Using an infected person’s razor, toothbrush, or nail clippers
People cannot get hepatitis C from:
- Shaking hands or holding hands with an infected person
- Being coughed or sneezed on by an infected person
- Hugging an infected person
- Sitting next to an infected person
- Sharing spoons, forks, and other eating utensils
- Drinking water or eating food
- A baby cannot get hepatitis C from breast milk.
What are the symptoms of hepatitis C?
Most people do not have any symptoms until the hepatitis C virus causes liver damage, which can take 10 or more years to happen. Others may have one or more of the following symptoms:
- Feeling tired
- Muscle soreness
- Upset stomach and pain
- Fever
- Loss of appetite
- Diarrhea
- Dark-yellow urine
- Light-colored stools
- Yellowish eyes and skin, called jaundice
What is acute hepatitis C?
Acute hepatitis C is a short-term infection with the hepatitis C virus. Symptoms can last up to 6 months. The infection sometimes clears up because the body is able to fight off the infection and get rid of the virus.
What is chronic hepatitis C?
Chronic hepatitis C is a long-lasting infection with the hepatitis C virus. Chronic hepatitis C occurs when the body can’t get rid of the hepatitis C virus. Most hepatitis C infections become chronic. Without treatment, chronic hepatitis C can cause liver cancer or severe liver damage that leads to liver failure. Liver failure occurs when the liver stops working properly.
How is hepatitis C diagnosed?
A blood test will show if a person has hepatitis C. People at higher risk of getting hepatitis C should get tested. Women who are pregnant should also get tested. Many people with hepatitis C do not know they are infected. Early diagnosis and treatment can help prevent liver damage.
Dr. Makhani may suggest getting a liver biopsy if chronic hepatitis C is suspected. A liver biopsy is a test to take a small piece of the liver to look for liver damage. The liver tissue is sent to a special lab where a pathologist looks at the tissue with a microscope.
How is hepatitis C treated?
Hepatitis C is usually not treated unless it becomes chronic. Chronic hepatitis C is treated with medicines that slow or stop the virus from damaging the liver. Symptoms are followed closely and regular blood tests are necessary to make sure the treatment is working.
Chronic hepatitis C is most often treated with a medicine combination that attacks the hepatitis C virus. Treatment may last from 24 to 48 weeks. Today, newer treatments with medicine for chronic hepatitis C are appearing quickly.
A liver transplant may be necessary if chronic hepatitis C causes severe liver damage that leads to liver failure. Symptoms of severe liver damage include the symptoms of hepatitis C and the following:
- Generalized itching
- Longer than usual amount of time for bleeding to stop
- Easy bruising
- Swollen stomach or ankles
- Spiderlike blood vessels, called spider angiomas, that develop on the skin
Liver transplant is surgery to remove a diseased or injured liver and replace it with a healthy one from another person, called a donor. A team of surgeons performs a liver transplant in a hospital. Medicines taken after liver transplant surgery can prevent hepatitis C from coming back.
Having hepatitis C increases the risk for getting liver cancer, so an ultrasound test of the liver is recommended every 6 months. Finding cancer early makes it more treatable. Ultrasound is a machine that uses sound waves to create a picture of your liver. Ultrasound is performed at a hospital or radiology center by a specially trained technician. The image, called a sonogram, can show the liver’s size and the presence of cancerous tumors.
How can hepatitis C be avoided?
Unfortunately, there is no vaccine available for Hepatitis C.
Actions that help protect against transmission of hepatitis C include:
- Safe sex practices
- No sharing of drug needles and other drug materials
- Wearing gloves when touching another person’s blood or open sores
- No sharing of toothbrushes, razors, or nail clippers
- Any tattoos or body piercings should be done with sterile tools
What should be done when a person has had contact with the hepatitis C virus?
Seek urgent medical assistance. Early diagnosis and treatment of chronic hepatitis C can help prevent liver damage.