Hepatitis C (HCV)

The Silent Epidemic: Understanding Hepatitis C

The hepatitis C virus (HCV) causes liver inflammation and damage, characterised by swelling in the body's tissues due to injury or infection. This inflammation can harm organs, making hepatitis C a liver disease. It is fatal and contagious, and a person can transmit it to someone else through blood contact. Hepatitis C can include cirrhosis, liver failure, and liver cancer. Early diagnosis can prevent liver damage. If left untreated, it can be fatal. Right now, there is no vaccine to prevent hepatitis C, but certainly, people can take steps to reduce their risk of infection.

 

What is hepatitis C? 

A, B, and C represent the most prevalent types of hepatitis. These viruses invade liver cells, causing swelling and dysfunction. Subsequently, inflammation in the liver tissue can damage the organ. Hepatitis C infections can be acute (short-term) or chronic (long-lasting). When a person has acute hepatitis, symptoms can last for six months. The most recent cases of hepatitis C occur from contact with needles or other equipment used to prepare or inject drugs. Hepatitis C is often caused by sharing needles or accidental contact in healthcare settings. Needle contact or other equipment used to produce or inject narcotics is the source of the most recent cases of hepatitis C. The sharing of needles and unintentional contact in healthcare settings frequently lead to it. 

Causes, Symptoms, Treatment, and Diagnosis of Hepatitis C

 

Acute hepatitis C

Acute hepatitis C is a virus that causes a short-term infection. Symptoms might last anywhere from 6 months to a year. Your body may fight with the contamination, and the virus may eventually go away.

 

Chronic hepatitis C

Chronic hepatitis C is a disease that lasts for a long time. When your body cannot fight off the infection, you get chronic hepatitis C. Chronic hepatitis C affects 75 to 85 per cent of patients with acute hepatitis C. Hepatologists can prevent chronic hepatitis C with early diagnosis and treatment. Chronic hepatitis C can lead to chronic liver disease, cirrhosis, liver failure, or liver cancer if not treated.

 

What are the symptoms of hepatitis C?

Hepatitis C can range from a mild illness that lasts for a few weeks to a severe and chronic health condition. People can have hepatitis C with no symptoms, especially at the acute stage, and may not know they have it. This condition makes it easier to transmit to others.

 

Acute hepatitis C:

The majority of individuals with acute hepatitis C do not exhibit symptoms. If symptoms do occur, they typically manifest between 2 and 12 weeks after exposure. People rarely receive a diagnosis of intense hepatitis C as it lacks definitive pieces of evidence. Because of this, doctors often call hepatitis C the silent epidemic.

The symptoms closely resemble those of other viral infections. 

Symptoms of acute hepatitis C include:

• a fever
• Fatigue
• abdominal pain
• loss of appetite
• nausea or vomiting
• dark urine
• clay-coloured stool
• joint pain,
• jaundice, rarely

 

Chronic hepatitis C

When the body cannot eliminate the virus, hepatitis C becomes chronic.

Chronic hepatitis C, in most instances, generates no symptoms or causes general symptoms such as chronic fatigue or sadness. Only a standard blood test or a blood donation screening can reveal a person's sickness. Early detection and treatment can avert liver damage.

 

If left untreated, chronic hepatitis C can progress to:

• Chronic liver disease can happen slowly over several decades with no symptoms.
• Cirrhosis, or liver scarring, 
• Liver failure
• Liver cancer

 

What are the causes and risk factors of hepatitis C?

The HCV virus causes hepatitis C. Blood-to-blood contact with tainted blood is how people catch the virus. HCV-infected blood can enter the body of an individual who does not carry the virus. It can carry hundreds of hepatitis C virus particles in a speck of blood that is invisible to the human eye. The infection is extremely tough to eradicate. Injecting bleach, disinfectants, or other cleaning agents is harmful, so properly cleanse the syringe. If you are new and sterile syringes and equipment are unavailable, bleach to clean the equipment. Casual contact, breathing, kissing, or sharing meals are all ineffective ways to contract the virus. There is no authentic proof that mosquito bites spread the virus. Many doctors report the following risk factors for developing hepatitis C:

• using or having used injectable medications. 
• Repeat transfusions or organ transplants. 
• exposure to a needle stick, 
• Contracting hepatitis C can occur during childbirth if the mother carries the virus.

 

What are the tests to diagnose hepatitis C?

Blood tests can diagnose hepatitis C.

• The doctor will first do a simple blood test to check for hepatitis C antibodies. A positive test indicates exposure to the virus, but it doesn't necessarily confirm infection in the individual. 
• If the antibody test yields a positive result, the doctor proceeds with a second blood test, conducting a hepatitis C RNA test. This test will determine if the virus is still in the blood.
• Because there are at least six varieties of hepatitis C virus, a third blood test called a genotyping test can determine which type is present.

 

What is the treatment for hepatitis C?

In most situations, modern medicines cure hepatitis C. Doctors use a mix of antiviral drugs in these therapies, which last roughly 24 weeks. Hepatologists can cure most cases of chronic and acute hepatitis C with direct-acting antiviral medications. Certain medicines with minor headaches and exhaustion are the most effective with adverse effects. These drugs target specific steps in the HCV life cycle and disrupt viral cell reproduction.

 

How can you prevent hepatitis C?

People can receive vaccines to prevent hepatitis A and B, but there is currently no vaccine for hepatitis C. To prevent infection, individuals must avoid exposure to the virus responsible for it. The most effective approach to preventing hepatitis C is to abstain from injecting drugs. Using drug treatments like methadone or buprenorphine lowers the risk since they do not require injections.

If a person continues with injectable therapy, they can reduce their risk of hepatitis C. However, one never shares the needles with another person, and all equipment is clean and sterilised before injection.

Obesity, smoking, diabetes, and alcohol consumption can speed up the rate of liver scarring. All individuals with hepatitis C must maintain good health.

This guidance involves:

• Quitting smoking
• maintaining a healthy weight
• managing other health problems,
• Avoiding alcohol

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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