Contracting HCV (hepatitis C virus)
How does one contract hepatitis C?
Most often, the virus from the blood of someone infected has had contact with the blood of someone uninfected. People who have had a blood transfusion prior to 1992 (before HCV screening of blood supplies) are considered at risk and should be tested for the virus. Other higher risk groups include anyone who has experimented with injection drugs or had multiple sex partners.
There is a risk for hepatitis C, but considered low (less than five percent), for those in a monogamous sexual relationship with someone who has HCV, those who have had other sexually transmitted diseases (STDs), those with tattoos or piercings done without proper sterilization, or babies born to mothers carrying HCV.
What happens with hepatitis C in the body?
Many people with chronic Hepatitis C show
few symptoms, especially early after contracting the virus.
Often, symptoms do not begin to appear for
decades, and sometimes only milder symptoms appear. Anyone
initially infected will have what is called acute hepatitis C. For about
15 to 40 percent of this group, the infection is
short-term, goes away, and does not return.
Others develop chronic (or long-lasting) hepatitis C, in which the virus stays in the liver, replicates itself (mutates), and damages the immune system and liver.
Chronic hepatitis C can cause liver disease, cirrhosis (scarring of the liver), liver cancer, and liver failure. If you or someone you know has been diagnosed with hepatitis C, it is important to know that serious illness or death from the disease is by no means inevitable—especially if proper care and therapies are introduced upon diagnosis.