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Understanding Hepatitis C: Risks, Diagnosis, and Treatment

Hepatitis C is not spread through casual contact or food and water. The CDC recommends getting tested if you received a blood transfusion before 1992, injected drugs, were born between 1945-1965, or have HIV. Around 75-85% of those infected develop chronic hepatitis C, which can lead to liver cancer or cirrhosis. New drug treatments like Harvoni cure most people within 8-12 weeks through once-daily pills, with fatigue and headaches as common side effects.

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50 views1 page

Understanding Hepatitis C: Risks, Diagnosis, and Treatment

Hepatitis C is not spread through casual contact or food and water. The CDC recommends getting tested if you received a blood transfusion before 1992, injected drugs, were born between 1945-1965, or have HIV. Around 75-85% of those infected develop chronic hepatitis C, which can lead to liver cancer or cirrhosis. New drug treatments like Harvoni cure most people within 8-12 weeks through once-daily pills, with fatigue and headaches as common side effects.

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aiai
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© © All Rights Reserved
We take content rights seriously. If you suspect this is your content, claim it here.
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Hepatitis C isnt spread through food, water, or by casual contact.

Who Gets It?


The CDC recommends you get tested for the disease if you:

Received blood from a donor who had the disease.


Have ever injected drugs.
Had a blood transfusion or an organ transplant before July 1992.
Received a blood product used to treat clotting problems before 1987.
Were born between 1945 and 1965.
Have been on long-term kidney dialysis.
Have HIV.
Were born to a mother with hepatitis C.

How Is It Diagnosed?
You can get a blood test to see if you have the hepatitis C virus.

Are There Any Long-Term Effects?


Yes. About 75% to 85% of people who have it develop a long-term infection
called chronic hepatitis C. It can lead to conditions like liver cancer and cirrhosis, or
scarring of the liver. This is one of the top reasons people get liver transplants.

How Is It Treated?
Hepatitis C treatments have changed a lot in recent years. One of the newer drugs is a
once-daily pill called Harvoni that cures the disease in most people in 8-12 weeks. It
combines two drugs: sofosbuvir (Sovaldi) and ledipasvir. In clinical trials, the most
common side effects werefatigue and headache. The most recent drugs are ombitasvirparitaprevir-dasabuvir-ritonavir (Viekira Pak), ombitasvir-paritaprevir-ritonavir
(Technivie) and daclastasvir (Daklinza) which do not require interferon and cure more
people in less time. Ombitasvir-paritaprevir-dasabuvir-ritonavir and ombitasvirparitaprevir-ritonavir carry an FDA warning of severe liver injury if given to someone with
underlying severe liver disease. All of these medicines are quite expensive.

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