What is Hepatitis C?
Hep C is a liver infection resulting from infection from the hep c virus [HVC].
How do I get it?
Hep C is transmitted from contaminated blood or blood products, either by transfusion or from tainted needles.
How do I know if I have it?
There are blood tests that can detect the virus or antibodies that Have formed against the virus. Some times there is a delay in the appearance of the virus and patients will not demonstrate the virus and must be tested several times later. Liver function tests should also be monitored.
What are the symptoms?
There are two stages to the infection. The acute phase and the chronic phase. Often in the acute phase, there usually are no symptoms. In the chronic phase, the patients may show signs of chronic liver disease. Some may progress to cirrhosis of the liver and require a liver transplant.
What is the treatment?
Most treatments involve attempting to remove the virus from the blood, with anti-viral drugs and interferon. These treatments are expensive and the drugs have severe side effects.
The BEST treatment is PREVENTION. AVOID CONTAMINATED BLOOD OR NEEDLES FROM A KNOWN INFECTED PERSON!!!
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