Casual hosehold contact is not a risk factor for hepatitis C. About 5 out of every infants born to HCV infected women become infected. This occurs at the time of birth, and there is no treatment that can prevent this from happening. Most infants infected with HCV at the time of birth have no symptoms and do well during childhood. More studies are needed to find out if these children will have problems from the infection as they grow older.
There are no treatments or guidelines for the treatment of infants or children infected with HCV. Children with elevated ALT liver enzyme levels should be referred for evaluation to a specialist familiar with the management of children with HCV-related disease.
There is no evidence that breast-feeding spreads HCV. HCV-positive mothers should consider abstaining from breast-feeding if their nipples are cracked or bleeding. Children should not be tested for anti-HCV before months of age as HCV antibodies from the mother may last until this age. If testing is desired prior to 12 months of age, PCR could be performed at or after an infant's first well-child visit at age months. Do not share personal items that might have your blood on them, such as toothbrushes, dental appliances, nail-grooming equipment or razors.
Don't ever shoot drugs. Intranasal inhalled is also a risk factor. If you shoot or inhale drugs, stop and get into a treatment program. If you can't stop, never reuse or share syringes, water, or drug works, and get vaccinated against hepatitis A and hepatitis B. Do not share toothbrushes, razors, or other personal care articles. They might have blood on them. If you are a healthcare worker, always follow routine barrier precautions and safely handle needles and other sharps.
Get vaccinated against hepatitis B. Consider the health risks if you are thinking about getting a tattoo or body piercing: You can get infected if:. HCV can be spread by sex, but this does not occur very often. If you are having sex, but not with one steady partner:. You and your partners can get other diseases spread by having sex e.
You should use latex condoms correctly and every time. The efficacy of latex condoms in preventing infection with HCV is unknown, but their proper use may reduce transmission. There is a very low chance of spreading HCV to that partner through sexual activity. If you want to lower the small chance of spreading HCV to your sex partner, you may decide to use barrier precautions such as latex condoms. Your partner should also be tested. Don't start any new medicines or use over-the-counter, herbal, and other medicines without a physician's knowledge.
Sneezing, hugging, coughing, food or water does not spread HCV nor does sharing eating utensils or drinking glasses, or casual contact. Persons should not be excluded from work, school, play, child-care or other settings on the basis of their HCV infection status. A small percentage of persons with chronic hepatitis C develop medical conditions outside the liver this is called extrahepatic.
These conditions are thought to occur due to the body's natural immune system fighting against itself. Such conditions include: glomerulonephritis associated with kidney disease, essential mixed cryoglobulinemia, and porphyria cutanea tarda-a skin condition. More information can be learned about these new therapies by viewing the following videos produced by Liver Specialists of Texas and Dr. Genotype refers to the genetic make-up of an organism or a virus. There are at least 6 distinct HCV genotypes identified.
Genotype 1 is the most common genotype seen in the United States. Yes, as there are 6 known genotypes and more than 50 subtypes of HCV, and genotype information is helpful in defining the epidemiology of hepatitis C. Knowing the genotype or serotype genotype-specific antibodies of HCV is helpful in making recommendations and counseling regarding therapy.
Based on your genotype, the length of treatment, as well as the combination of medication will be determined. Often, health-care-associated outbreaks are first detected by astute clinicians who find new infections in people without risk factors and then report cases to public health authorities.
Yes; however, transmission between household members does not occur very often. If hepatitis C is spread within a household, it is most likely a result of direct i.
People with newly acquired HCV infection usually are asymptomatic or have mild symptoms that are unlikely to prompt a visit to a health-care professional. When symptoms do occur, they can include:.
In those people who do develop symptoms, the average period from exposure to symptom onset is 2—12 weeks range: 2—26 weeks 13 , Most people with chronic HCV infection are asymptomatic or have non-specific symptoms such as chronic fatigue and depression. Many eventually develop chronic liver disease, which can range from mild to severe, including cirrhosis and liver cancer.
Chronic liver disease in HCV-infected people is usually insidious, progressing slowly without any signs or symptoms for several decades. In fact, HCV infection is often not recognized until asymptomatic people are identified as HCV-positive when screened for blood donation or when elevated alanine aminotransferase ALT, a liver enzyme levels are detected during routine examinations.
Some people with chronic HCV infection develop medical conditions due to hepatitis C that are not limited to the liver. Such conditions can include:. CDC now recommends universal hepatitis C screening for all U.
This includes. Routine periodic testing is recommended for people with ongoing risk factors, while risk factors persist, including those who currently inject drugs and share needles, syringes, or other drug preparation equipment, along with people who have certain medical conditions e.
Testing of people at risk should occur regardless of setting prevalence. In the absence of hepatitis C prevalence data in a particular practice or patient catchment area, providers and program directors should immediately begin screening all adults and all pregnant women during each pregnancy for HCV infection. To determine the baseline prevalence, providers and program directors are encouraged to consult CDC or their state and local health departments to determine a reasonable estimate in their setting or a methodology for determining how many people they need to screen before confidently being able to establish that the prevalence is below 0.
Anti-HCV seroconversion occurs an average of 8—11 weeks after exposure 25 , 26 , 27 , 28 , 29 , 30 , although cases of delayed seroconversion have been documented in people who are immunosuppressed e. People with recently acquired acute infection typically have detectable HCV RNA levels as early as 1—2 weeks after exposure to the virus However, reflex testing is not possible in every laboratory or clinical setting.
People who have been very recently infected with HCV might not yet have developed antibody levels high enough to be detected by the anti-HCV test. The window period for acute HCV infection before the detection of antibodies averages 8 to 11 weeks, with a reported range of 2 weeks to 6 months. In addition, some people might lack the immune response necessary to develop detectable antibodies within this time range 31 , In these people, virologic testing e.
It is common for patients with chronic hepatitis C to have fluctuating liver enzyme levels, with periodic returns to normal or near normal levels. Liver enzyme levels can remain normal for over a year despite chronic liver disease CDC offers an online training that covers the serology of acute and chronic hepatitis C and other types of viral hepatitis. Given that hepatitis C treatment has been simplified, many types of providers can effectively manage HCV-infected patients, including internal medicine and family practice physicians, nurse practitioners, physician assistants, and pharmacists Specialists e.
Primary-care and other types of providers wishing to manage treatment for patients with hepatitis C can learn from the Project ECHO external icon model of hepatitis C treatment delivery. Not usually. With the advent of hepatitis C therapies that are effective against many genotypes, genotyping is no longer required prior to treatment initiation.
There is no evidence that hepatitis C can be transmitted from food handlers, teachers, or other service providers in the absence of blood-to-blood contact. With the exception of pregnant women and children under 3 years of age, people with acute hepatitis C i.
There is no need to wait for potential spontaneous viral resolution. Avoiding occupational exposure to blood is the primary way to prevent transmission of bloodborne illnesses among health-care personnel.
To promote blood safety in the workplace, health-care personnel should consult infectious-disease control guidance from the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health and from CDC. Depending on the medical procedure involved, Standard Precautions may include the appropriate use of personal protective equipment e.
Although sharps injuries have decreased in recent decades due to improved prevention measures, they continue to occur, placing health-care personnel at risk for several bloodborne pathogens like hepatitis C. A recent analysis of several studies revealed an overall 0.
Updated guidelines for management and treatment of hepatitis C external icon are available to provide guidance for health-care personnel who become infected via exposure to contaminated blood at the workplace. Although a few cases of hepatitis C virus transmission via blood splash to the eye have been reported, the risk for such transmission is extremely low 35 , In a report of U. However, it was unknown whether the HCV-antibody-positive patients had current infection at the time of exposure.
Most health-care personnel infected with HCV need not modify their professional duties based on infection status, because the risk of transmission from an infected health-care provider to a patient is very low. All health-care personnel, including those who are HCV positive, should follow a strict aseptic technique as described by the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health and the CDC , including appropriate hand hygiene, use of protective barriers, and safe injection practices.
Note that all people with HCV infection are recommended to receive curative treatment www. Baseline testing of the source patient and the health-care personnel should be done as soon as possible preferably within 48 hours after the exposure.
RR-6 :1—8. Pregnant women with known risk factors should be tested during each pregnancy, regardless of setting prevalence. Transmission occurs during pregnancy or childbirth, and no prophylaxis is available to protect the newborn from infection.
Most infants infected with HCV at birth have no symptoms. There is no evidence that breastfeeding spreads hepatitis C. Not enough information is available regarding the risks of transmission through breastfeeding by infected mothers with cracked or bleeding nipples. However, because HCV is a bloodborne infection, if a mother with hepatitis C has cracked or bleeding nipples, she should stop nursing temporarily until her nipples heal Skip directly to site content Skip directly to page options Skip directly to A-Z link.
Viral Hepatitis. Section Navigation. It can take anywhere from 8 to 11 weeks , on average, for antibodies to become detectable in your blood. Your doctor might test you for hepatitis C if you have symptoms or abnormal liver test results. Hepatitis C is diagnosed by testing your blood. You may need to have more than one blood test. A healthcare provider will take a sample of your blood from a vein in your arm. A positive result requires additional testing to determine if the antibodies are due to a past infection or a current one.
In the case of a hepatitis C infection, viral genotyping can help identify the specific type of hepatitis C. This information will guide your treatment. When a virus enters your body, your immune system takes action. It produces antibodies to seek out and destroy the foreign invaders. Once you make antibodies, you always have them, whether you have an active hepatitis C infection or not.
After your blood is tested, the results will be negative nonreactive or positive reactive. A positive result indicates you have hepatitis C antibodies. Next, your doctor will likely order a qualitative blood test to determine if you have an active infection. The qualitative RNA test checks your blood for particles of the hepatitis virus.
This test is also called the polymerase chain reaction PCR test. The antibodies found by your previous test were from an earlier infection that was successfully cleared. Page last reviewed: 27 October Next review due: 27 October Who should get tested? Some groups of people are at an increased risk of hepatitis C, including: ex-drug users and current drug users, particularly users of injected drugs people who received blood transfusions before September or blood products before in the UK UK recipients of organ or tissue transplants before people who have lived or had medical treatment in an area where hepatitis C is common — high-risk areas include Africa, the Middle East and central Asia babies and children whose mothers have hepatitis C anyone accidentally exposed to the virus, such as health workers people who have received a tattoo or piercing where equipment may not have been properly sterilised sexual partners, family members and close contacts of people with hepatitis C If you continue to engage in high-risk activities, such as injecting drugs frequently, regular testing may be recommended.
The antibody test The antibody blood test determines whether you have ever been exposed to the hepatitis C virus by testing for the presence of antibodies to the virus. Further tests If you have an active hepatitis C infection, you will be referred to a specialist for further tests to check if your liver has been damaged. The tests you may have include: blood tests — these measure certain enzymes and proteins in your bloodstream that indicate whether your liver is damaged or inflamed ultrasound scans — where sound waves are used to test how stiff your liver is; stiffness suggests the liver is scarred The specialist can also talk to you about any treatment you may need.
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