Hepatitis C is a viral infection that causes liver inflammation, sometimes leading to serious liver damage. The hepatitis C virus (HCV) spreads through contaminated blood.
Chronic HCV 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, which is scarring of the liver that leads to liver damage, and liver cancer and the most common reason for liver transplantation in the U.S. Approximately 15,000 people die every year from HCV-related liver disease, according to the American Liver Foundation.
Until recently, HCV treatment required weekly injections and oral medications that many HCV-infected people couldn’t take because of other health problems or intolerable side effects. That’s changing. Today, chronic HCV is usually curable with oral medications taken every day for two to six months.
Still, about half of people with HCV don’t know they’re infected, mainly because they have no symptoms, which can take decades to appear. For that reason, the U.S. Preventive Services Task Force recommends that all adults ages 18 to 79 years be screened for HCV, even those without symptoms or known liver disease. The largest group at risk includes everyone born between 1945 and 1965 — a population five times more likely to be infected than those born in other years.
Who is at Risk?
Some people are at increased risk for HCV, including:
- Current injection drug users (currently the most common way HCV is spread in the U.S.)
- Past injection drug users, including those who injected only one time or many years ago
- Recipients of donated blood, blood products and organs (once a common means of transmission but now rare in the U.S. since blood screening became available in 1992)
- People who received a blood product for clotting problems made before 1987
- Hemodialysis patients or people who spent many years on dialysis for kidney failure
- People who received body piercing or tattoos done with non-sterile instruments
- People with known exposures to HCV, such as:
- Health care workers injured by needle sticks
- Recipients of blood or organs from a donor who tested positive for HCV
- People infected with HIV
- Children born to mothers infected with HCV
Who Should Get Tested for HCV?
Talk to your doctor about being tested for HCV if any of the following are true:
- You were born between 1945-1965
- You are a current or former injection drug user, even if you injected only one time or many years ago
- You were treated for a blood clotting problem before 1987
- You received a blood transfusion or organ transplant before July 1992
- You are on the long-term hemodialysis treatment
- You have abnormal liver tests or liver disease
- You work in health care or public safety and were exposed to blood through a needle stick or other sharp object injury
- You are infected with HIV or hepatitis B
Common Symptoms
Approximately 70-80% of people with acute HCV do not have any symptoms. Some people, however, can have mild to severe symptoms soon after being infected, including:
- Bleeding easily
- Bruising easily
- Fatigue
- Poor appetite
- Yellow discoloration of the skin and eyes (jaundice)
- Dark-colored urine
- Itchy skin
- Fluid buildup in your abdomen
- Swelling in your legs
- Weight loss
- Confusion, drowsiness and slurred speech
- Spiderlike blood vessels on your skin
Chronic HCV infection can lead to cirrhosis, liver cancer, liver failure and death. However, it can be cured.
Chronic and Acute HCV
Every chronic HCV infection starts with an acute phase. Acute HCV usually goes undiagnosed because it rarely causes symptoms. When signs and symptoms are present, they may include yellowing of the skin, along with fatigue, nausea, fever and muscle aches. Acute symptoms appear one to three months after exposure to the virus and last two weeks to three months.
UofL Health – Hep C Center
The UofL Health – Hep C Center leads our area in providing compassionate care, advocacy and access to curative HCV treatments, liver assessment with FibroScan® and world-class specialty pharmacy services. There is no longer a need to worry about liver biopsies, interferon side effects or stigma. All patients infected with HCV benefit from referral, regardless of age and active or recent drug or alcohol use.
If you need hepatitis C care, call 502-561-5687 or toll-free at 833-561-5687.
