Download Hepatitis C

Hepatitis C
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About Hepatitis C Virus
Method of Transmission.
How do people become infected?
Main Symptoms of Hepatitis C?
How it is diagnosed?
Source: http://www.hepatitisc.in/hepatitiscfaqs.html
Source: http://www.nlm.nih.gov/medlineplus/hepatitisc.html
Also called:HCV
Hepatitis C is one type of hepatitis - a liver disease - caused by the hepatitis C virus (HCV). It
usually spreads through contact with infected blood. It can also spread through sex with an
infected person and from mother to baby during childbirth.
Most people who are infected with hepatitis C don't have any symptoms for years. A blood test
can tell if you have it. Usually, hepatitis C does not get better by itself. The infection can last a
lifetime and may lead to scarring of the liver or liver cancer. Medicines sometimes help, but
side effects can be a problem. Serious cases may need a liver transplant.
There is no vaccine for HCV.
 About:
Hepatitis C is a disease of liver caused by
the hepatitis C virus (HCV), which is found in
the blood of persons who have this disease.
Hepatitis C is a blood-borne infectious
disease that is caused by the Hepatitis C
virus (HCV), affecting the liver.[1] The
infection is often asymptomatic, but once
established, chronic infection can cause
inflammation of the liver (chronic hepatitis).
This condition can progress to scarring of the
liver (fibrosis), and advanced scarring
(cirrhosis). In some cases, those with
cirrhosis will go on to develop liver failure or
other complications of cirrhosis, including
liver cancer.
The hepatitis C virus (HCV) is spread by blood-to-blood contact. No vaccine against hepatitis C
is available. The symptoms of infection can be medically managed, and a proportion of
patients can be cleared of the virus by a course of anti-viral medicines. Although early medical
intervention is helpful, people with HCV infection can experience mild symptoms, and
consequently do not seek treatment.[1] An estimated 150-200 million people worldwide are
infected with hepatitis C.
Hepatitis C (originally "non-A non-B hepatitis") is one of five known hepatitis viruses: A, B, C,
D, and E.
 Methods of Transmission:
Those who currently use or have used drug injection as their delivery route for illicit drugs are
at increased risk for getting hepatitis C because they may be sharing needles or other drug
paraphernalia (includes cookers, cotton, spoons, water, etc.), which may be contaminated
with HCV-infected blood. An estimated 60% to 80% of all IV drug users in the United States
have been infected with HCV.Harm reduction strategies are encouraged in many countries to
reduce the spread of hepatitis C, through education, provision of clean needles and syringes,
and safer injecting techniques.
Researchers have suggested that the transmission of HCV may be possible through the nasal
inhalation (insuffulation) of illegal drugs such as cocaine and crystal methamphetamine when
straws (containing even trace amounts of mucus and blood) are shared among users.
Blood transfusion, blood products, or organ transplantation prior to implementation of HCV
screening (in the U.S., this would refer to procedures prior to 1992) is a decreasing risk factor
for hepatitis C.
The virus was first isolated in 1989 and reliable tests to screen for the virus were not available
until 1992. Therefore, those who received blood or blood products prior to the implementation
of screening the blood supply for HCV may have been exposed to the virus. Blood products
include clotting factors (taken by hemophiliacs), immunoglobulin, Rhogam, platelets, and
plasma. In 2001, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention reported that the risk of HCV
infection from a unit of transfused blood in the United States is less than one per million
transfused units.
People can be exposed to HCV via inadequately or improperly sterilized medical or dental
equipment. Equipment that may harbor contaminated blood if improperly sterilized includes
needles or syringes, hemodialysis equipment, oral hygiene instruments, and jet air guns, etc.
Scrupulous use of appropriate sterilization techniques and proper disposal of used equipment
can reduce the risk of iatrogenic exposure to HCV to virtually zero.
Medical and dental personnel, first responders (e.g., firefighters, paramedics, emergency
medical technicians, law enforcement officers), and military combat personnel can be exposed
to HCV through accidental exposure to blood through accidental needlesticks or blood spatter
to the eyes or open wounds. Universal precautions to protect against such accidental
exposures significantly reduce the risk of exposure to HCV.
Sexual transmission of HCV is considered to be rare. Studies show the risk of sexual
transmission in heterosexual, monogamous relationships is extremely rare or even null. The
CDC does not recommend the use of condoms between long-term monogamous discordant
couples (where one partner is positive and the other is negative).However, because of the
high prevalence of hepatitis C, this small risk may translate into a non-trivial number of cases
transmitted by sexual routes. Vaginal penetrative sex is believed to have a lower risk of
transmission than sexual practices that involve higher levels of trauma to anogenital mucosa
(anal penetrative sex, fisting, use of sex toys).
Source:
http://ayurvedacare.net/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=147&Itemid=148
 How do people become infected by Hepatitis C?
1. People who inject drugs regularly.
2. People who have ever injected drugs, even if only on one occasion during their youthful
party years. In fact, the first injecting experience is arguably the most risky because it
is likely to take place in the company of someone who has injected before.
3. The decision to use is probably unplanned so no provision will have been made for
individual sterile needles, syringes and other injecting gear; and few people inject
themselves or go first in the queue the first time they use injected drugs.
4. People who have spent time in prisons or other correctional facilities where the many
risk factors currently include zero access to sterile tattooing or injecting equipment.
Research findings consistently show that rates of hepatitis C infection among prison
inmates, are ten to twenty times higher than for the general population in the western
world.
5. People who have had tattoos or piercings in unsterile conditions.
6. Some migrant groups from nations with limited health budgets, that re-use therapeutic
injecting equipment and the like, or that did so in the recent past – especially war-torn
countries and those where mass vaccination campaigns were carried out.
7. People receiving unscreened blood or blood products through the public health system
 What are main symptoms of Hepatitis C?
Patients with acute hepatitis C are frequently asymptomatic (meaning that they have no
symptoms), even when liver tests are abnormal. Soon after contracting the infection many
people have a flu-like illness with fatigue, fever, muscular aches and pain, nausea and
vomiting. About 10% of patients become jaundiced (their skin turns yellow). Generally these
symptoms resolve and the patient has no symptoms of liver disease for many years.
Symptoms may occur from two weeks to six months after exposure but usually within two
months.
 How it is diagnosed?
There are several blood tests that can be done to determine if you have been infected with
HCV. The following are the types of tests your doctor may order and the purpose for each:
a) Anti-HCV (antibody to HCV) EIA (enzyme immunoassay) or CIA (enhanced
chemiluminescence’s immunoassay) Test is usually done first. If positive, it should be
confirmed RIBA (recombinant immunoblot assay) A supplemental test used to confirm
a positive EIA test Anti-HCV does not tell whether the infection is new (acute), chronic
(long-term) or is no longer present.
b) Qualitative tests to detect presence or absence of virus (HCV RNA).
c) Quantitative tests to detect amount (titer) of virus (HCV RNA)