- Hepatitis C is a liver disease that is contagious. The disease is the result of being infected with the hepatitis C virus. Hepatitis C is acute (short-term, lasting for about six months) or chronic (when the disease produces the long-term symptoms or complications). There is no medical cure for hepatitis C.
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Hepatitis C is spread through the blood. A person infected with hepatitis C passes the virus along to an uninfected person. Now, hepatitis C is more commonly spread through sharing needles and other methods of injecting drugs. Before 1992, when general screening of hepatitis C was implemented, the disease was mostly spread through blood transfusions and organ transplants. Hepatitis C is also a sexually transmitted disease (STD). Persons with multiple sex partners or those exposed to HIV are at a higher risk to contract hepatitis C.
There is not enough research to determine if hepatitis C is spread through piercings or tattooing. However, if tattoos are given with unsterilized equipment, contracting hepatitis C is always possible. - Long-term symptoms or complications of hepatitis C are known as chronic hepatitis C, which forms when the hepatitis C virus stays in the body. This can be a lifelong infection and even lead to death. Of the people who contract hepatitis C, 75 percent to 85 percent develop the chronic infection. Long-term symptoms or complications of chronic hepatitis C are liver damage, liver failure, liver cancer or cirrhosis of the liver. Cirrhosis of the liver is extensive scarring of the liver caused by the hepatitis C virus. Cirrhosis interferes with the normal liver function. Fifteen percent of long-term chronic hepatitis C patients develop liver disease. Five percent die from liver cancer. Liver transplants in the United States are mainly due to hepatitis C. Eight to ten thousand people die from hepatitis C each year.
- A third of people who contract the chronic infection will develop the liver scarring mentioned and suffer from hepatitis C health problems. One-fourth of people who develop chronic hepatitis can get better on their own without any of the long-term symptoms.
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Other physical long-term symptoms of chronic and acute hepatitis C are fatigue, joint pain, aching muscles, itchy skin, stomach pain and jaundice. Jaundice is a condition in which there is a visible yellowing of the skin and whites of the eyes. Symptoms may not appear for years.
It is important to have reliable medical care and a proper hepatitis screening to determine if hepatitis C has infected the blood.
