Hepatitis C is a viral infection that causes inflammation of the liver.
The virus spreads through infected blood.
If a person is sick with hepatitis C virus for a long time, we are dealing with chronic hepatitis.
In some clinical cases, inflammation becomes a prerequisite for serious liver damage.
It is recommended that people between the ages of 18 and 79 be screened for hepatitis C, even if a person has no symptoms or a history of liver disease.
Screening is especially important for at-risk individuals. The risk group is:
- Any person who inhaled or injected an illegal, prohibited drug, substance;
- Abnormal liver function in the anamnesis, the cause of which has not been identified;
- Children of mothers with hepatitis C;
- Doctors who have contact with blood or needles;
- Hemophiliacs who were treated with clotting factors before 1987;
- Patients undergoing hemodialysis for a long time;
- Persons who underwent blood transfusion or organ transplantation before 1992;
- If the sexual partner has been confirmed to have hepatitis C;
- A person who was in prison.
If the blood test confirmed hepatitis C, additional tests will be required:
- Evaluation of the amount of hepatitis C virus in the blood;
- Identification of the genotype of the virus.
In case of chronic hepatitis C, the following types of studies are recommended to assess the degree of liver damage:
- Magnetic resonance elastography;
- Transient elastography;
- Liver biopsy;
- Blood test to assess the extent of fibrosis in the liver.
Treatment methods are:
- Antiviral medicines;
- Liver transplantation (in case of serious complications of chronic hepatitis C infection);
- Vaccination. There is no direct vaccine for hepatitis C, but your doctor may recommend vaccination against the A and B viruses.
Source:
https://www.mayoclinic.org/diseases-conditions/hepatitis-c/diagnosis-treatment/drc-20354284
