Category Hepatitis C Virus

Hepatitis (HCV) FAQs

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  • HCV was officially identified in 1989
  • There are 6 different genotypes of HCV; 75% of people w/HCV have Genotype 1, which is the hardest one to treat
  • The most common and severe symptom of HCV is fatigue.
  • There is no correlation between a person’s health and the concentration (viral load) of the HCV the person has (in terms of the health of the liver).
  • Sexual transmission is low-risk for transmitting HCV because it is transmitted from blood to blood.
  • There is some controversy about the risk associated with sexual transmission of HCV because many people who believe they acquired the disease through sexual activity also had other risk factors for acquiring HCV, such as intravenous drug use.
  • It is estimated that the risk of an HCV positive mother passing the virus on to her baby at birth is about 3-5%.  These numbers are only estimates, however, because many studies of HCV do not include people in prisons or the homeless.
  • When a person first contracts HCV they need to limit their fat intake.  When the disease is more progressed they need to limit protein intake because the liver develops problems with processing protein.
  • HCV puts a person at increased risk for acquiring liver cancer.
  • About one quarter of HIV-infected persons in the United States are also infected with HCV. Those that contracted HIV through injection drug use have a co-infection rate between 50-90%.
  • HCV is one of the most important causes of chronic liver disease in the United States and liver damage resulting from HCV infection progresses more rapidly in HIV-infected persons. HCV infection may also impact the course and management of HIV infection.
  • HCV lives longer outside the body than HIV, and is infectious for at least 16 hours and up to 4 days. If you are protecting yourself against HCV, you are also protecting yourself against HIV.

 

Hepatitis C (HCV) Treatment

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The better you take care of yourself, the slower that the damage to the liver. On average, it takes 20 years to develop symptoms for chronic HCV. With alcohol or HIV, the average number drops to 7 years. So whether or not medicine is available, taking better care of your body will help.

There are 6 HCV genotypes. Treatment success is dependent on genotype and has a 40 – 80% chance of being successful. All genotypes result in the same level of liver damage.

Side effects of medicine include flu-like symptoms, muscle and joint pain, nausea, headaches, loss of appetite, dry skin anxiety, insomnia, and depression. They vary greatly in number and severity based on the person.