Hepatitis C: Causes, Symptoms and Cure
Hepatitis C (hep C, HCV) is one of several viruses that cause viral hepatitis (inflammation of the liver). Approximately 3.5 million people are estimated to be infected with hepatitis C in the US
Up to 85% of people who are initially (acute) infected with hepatitis C will fail to kill the virus and become infected for years.
Hepatitis C spreads through exposure to infected blood. Intravenous use of narcotics using infected common needles is the most common way of transmission.The risk of getting hepatitis C through sexual contact or breastfeeding is very low.
Generally, individuals with chronic hepatitis C infection have no symptoms until they show extensive liver scarring (cirrhosis). Some people, however, may have tiredness and other non-specific symptoms before this happens.
In the US, hepatitis C infection is the most common cause of chronic hepatitis and the most common reason for liver transplantation. Great progress has been made in the treatment of hepatitis C. The rate of treatment has increased (over 90% -95%) with the development of drugs that have direct effect and are oral antiviral drugs.
Treatment results in reduced inflammation and liver scars in most patients treated with hepatitis C and also occasionally (but to a much lesser extent) those who relapse or are not treated.
What is hepatitis C infection? How many people are infected?
Hepatitis C virus infection is a liver infection caused by the hepatitis C virus (also referred to as HCV). It is difficult for the human immune system to eliminate hepatitis C from the body and infection with hepatitis C is usually chronic.
For decades, chronic hepatitis C infection has destroyed the liver and can cause liver failure. In the US, the CDC has estimated that about 29,718 new cases occurred in 2013. When the virus first enters the body, there are usually no symptoms, so this number is an estimate. Up to 85% of newly infected individuals fail to eradicate the virus and become infected chronically.
In the United States, more than three million people have been infected with hepatitis C. Infection is more common in people aged 40 to 60, reflecting high levels of infection in the 1970s and 1980s. There are 8,000 to 10,000 deaths each year USA. associated with hepatitis C infection. HCV infection is the leading cause of liver transplantation in the United States. and is a risk factor for liver cancer.
Symptoms of hepatitis C
Most people who contribute to hepatitis C (hep C) have no symptoms. However, those who have symptoms may experience:
- fatigue,
- loss of appetite,
- muscle and joint pains.
- motion sickness,
- stomachache,
- vomiting
What is hepatitis C virus?
Hepatitis means inflammation of the liver. Hepatitis C is one of the many viruses that can cause viral hepatitis. It is not related to other common hepatitis viruses (for example, hepatitis A or hepatitis B).
It is a member of the Flaviviridae virus family. Other members of this virus family include those that cause yellow fever and dengue fever.
There are at least six different genotypes (strains) of the virus that have different genetic profiles (genotypes 1 to 6). In the U.S., genotype 1 is the most common strain of hepatitis C. Even in a single genotype there may be some variants (for example, genotype 1a and 1b). Genotype is used to guide treatment because some viral genotypes respond better to some treatments than to others.
Like human immunodeficiency virus (HIV), hepatitis C proliferates very quickly and achieves very high levels of the body. The genes that make the surface proteins of the virus quickly change (change) quickly and thousands of genetic variants of the virus ("quasi-species") are produced daily.
It is impossible for the body to continue to make anti-HCV antibodies against all quasi-species that circulate simultaneously. It has not yet been possible to develop an effective vaccine because the vaccine has to protect against all genotypes.
Hepatitis C infection in the liver activates the immune system, leading to inflammation. Very few people experience typical symptoms of hepatitis, such as dark-colored urine or clay in acute or early infection.
Chronic hepatitis C does not usually cause symptoms until the disease is too late and hepatitis C has been reported by sufferers as the "sleeping dragon". For several years or decades, chronic inflammation can cause liver cell death and scarring ("fibrosis"). Extensive scars in the liver
What are the symptoms of hepatitis C infection?
Approximately 75% of people have no symptoms when they receive HCV infection for the first time. The remaining 25% may have
- fatigue,
- loss of appetite,
- muscle pain, or
- fever.
Few people experience symptoms or symptoms of hepatitis such as dark-colored urine, yellow eyes, or pecoketones in acute or early infection.
Over time, people with chronic HCV infection may experience signs of inflammation of the liver indicating that the infection may be present. Infected people can easily get tired or protest for non-specific symptoms.
As cirrhosis develops, symptoms and signs increase and may include:
- Elevated liver enzymes in the blood
- Weakness
- Loss of appetite
- Weight loss
- Breast enlargement in men (gynecomastia)
- Red palms of the hands
- Difficulty in blood clotting
- Abdominal blood vessels in the skin
- Stomachache
- Colored stools
- Haemorrhage from the esophagus
- Liquid in the belly
- Yellow skin and eyes (jaundice)
- Confusion
- Coma
What is the contagious period for hepatitis C?
Because hepatitis C is transmitted by exposure to blood, there is no specific period of transmissible. If a person develops chronic hepatitis C, his blood carries the virus and is contagious to others for the rest of his life unless he is hepatitis C treated.
What is the incubation period for hepatitis C?
This is difficult to say with certainty that the incubation period for hepatitis C is because most people who have been infected with hepatitis C have no symptoms early during the infection. Those who develop early symptoms after infection (6 to 10 weeks) show mild symptoms of the gastrointestinal tract that may not cause a visit to the doctor.
How long does it take for symptoms to develop after hepatitis C contractions?
This is difficult to say with certainty because most people who are infected with hepatitis C have no symptoms early during the infection. Those who develop early symptoms after infection (6 to 10 weeks) show mild symptoms of the gastrointestinal tract that may not cause a visit to the doctor.
How does hepatitis C spread?
Like HIV and hepatitis B, hepatitis C (hepatitis C virus or HCV) is transmitted by exposure to infected blood (blood pathogen).
The most common way to get hepatitis C is from infected blood with needles shared by IV drug users.
Random needles to health workers have also transmitted the virus. The average risk of hepatitis C infection by stick with a contaminated needle is 1.8%.
Before 1992, some people became infected by hepatitis C by blood transfusions or blood products. Since 1992, all blood products have been tested for hepatitis C, and cases of hepatitis C due to blood transfusion are extremely rare.
Hepatitis C infection can also go from mother to unborn child. About 4% of children born to mothers infected with hepatitis C have been infected.
Hepatitis C is not transmitted from breast milk. However, nipples may break and bleed during the first few weeks until the nipples adapt to hospitalisation and the infant may be exposed to infected blood. If this happens, breastfeeding should be stopped and milk production can be maintained by pumping the milk and discarding it until it is cured.
A very small number of cases of hepatitis C is transmitted through sexual contact. The risk of transmitting hepatitis C from an infected person to an uninfected spouse or sexual partner without the use of condoms over the lifetime is estimated to range between 1% and 4%.
Hepatitis C is not transmitted by simple contact, kissing, coughing, sneezing or sharing food utensils. There is no transmission from error tweaks. However, due to the possibility of blood exposure, household members are advised not to share razor shavers, scissors or toothbrushes.
Poor infection control practices during tattooing and body piercing may lead to the spread of the infection. This can happen in prisons or in non-professional situations, but it has not been reported in approved commercial tattoo installations where it has been studied.
There were some outbreaks of hepatitis C when the organs exposed to blood were reused without adequate purification and sterilisation between patients.
Hepatitis C can be transmitted from an organ donor to an organ recipient. Organ donors are being tested for hepatitis C.
- If the donor providing the instrument is infected with hepatitis C, it is offered to a recipient who is also infected with hepatitis C.
- For kidney transplant recipients, however, this does not seem to affect the long-term outcome after transplantation.
- For liver transplant recipients who have hepatitis C and receive an organ from a person not infected with hepatitis C, the transplanted organ is expected to become infected within a few weeks. Fortunately, the newer drugs allow successful hepatitis C treatment after transplants and this area of medicine continues to evolve.
Can hepatitis C infection affect organs other than liver?
Most of the signs and symptoms of hepatitis C infection are related to the liver. Less frequently, hepatitis C infection can affect organs other than the liver.
Hepatitis C infection can cause the body to produce abnormal antibodies called cryoglobulins.
Cryoglobulins cause inflammation of the arteries (vasculitis). This can cause damage to the skin, joints and kidneys. Patients with cryoglobulinemia (cryoglobulins in the blood) may have
- joint pain,
- arthritis,
- an increased purple rash on the feet, and
- generalized pain or swelling of their body.
- In addition, infected people with cryoglobulin can develop the Raynaud effect, in which fingers and fingers turn into color (white, then purple, then red) and become painful at low temperatures.
Who is at high risk and should be tested for hepatitis C infection?
The United Kingdom Preventive Health Service recommends that all adults born between 1945 and 1965 be tested once for hepatitis C regardless of the presence of hepatitis C risk factors. One-off testing is also recommended for:
People who are currently infecting drugs or spraying medication, or something, even once a year ago
Persons with persistent elevated levels of alanine aminotransferase (ALT), a liver enzyme found in the blood
- People who have HIV infection
- Children born of mothers infected with HCV or HIV
- People who were in long-term hemodialysis
- People who took a tattoo in an unregulated setting, such as a prison or a person without a license
- Individuals who received coagulation were established before 1987
- People who received transfusions or organ transplants before July 1992 or who were informed that they received blood from a donor who later tested positive for hepatitis C infection
- Healthcare, emergency doctors and public security workers following exposure to needles, eyes, or mouths in hepatitis C-infected blood
- Individuals who may have been exposed to hepatitis C in the previous 6 months should be screened for the viral RNA load instead of the HCV antibody because the antibody may not be present at an early stage of hepatitis C infection.
In general, the annual check may be appropriate for individuals with persistent risk factors such as repeated sexually transmitted diseases (STD) or multiple sexual partners, continued IV drug use, or long-term sexual intercourse of people with hepatitis C. These people are determined by decision as appropriate.
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