28/07/2020
Hepatitis C is NOT spread through:
Breast milk
Food, water
Casual contact such as hugging, kissing
Sharing food or drinks with an infected person
Hepatitis C is a liver disease caused by the hepatitis C virus (HCV): the virus can cause both acute and chronic hepatitis, ranging in severity from a mild illness lasting a few weeks to a serious, lifelong illness.
Hepatitis C is a major cause of liver cancer.
The hepatitis C virus is a bloodborne virus: the most common modes of infection are through exposure to small quantities of blood. This may happen through injection drug use, unsafe injection practices, unsafe health care, transfusion of unscreened blood and blood products, and s*xual practices that lead to exposure to blood.
Globally, an estimated 71 million people have chronic hepatitis C virus infection.
A significant number of those who are chronically infected will develop cirrhosis or liver cancer.
WHO estimated that in 2016, approximately 399 000 people died from hepatitis C, mostly from cirrhosis and hepatocellular carcinoma (primary liver cancer).
Antiviral medicines can cure more than 95% of persons with hepatitis C infection, thereby reducing the risk of death from cirrhosis and liver cancer, but access to diagnosis and treatment is low.
The incubation period for hepatitis C ranges from 2 weeks to 6 months.
Following initial infection, approximately 80% of people do not exhibit any symptoms.
Those who are acutely symptomatic may exhibit fever, fatigue, decreased appetite, nausea, vomiting, abdominal pain,
dark urine, grey-coloured faeces, joint pain and jaundice (yellowing of skin and the whites of the eyes).
A new infection with HCV does not always require treatment, as the immune response in some people will clear the infection. However, when HCV infection becomes chronic, treatment is necessary. The goal of hepatitis C treatment is cure.
WHO’s updated 2018 guidelines recommend therapy with pan-genotypic direct-acting antivirals (DAAs). DAAs can cure most persons with HCV infection, and treatment duration is short (usually 12 to 24 weeks), depending on the absence or presence of cirrhosis.
WHO recommends treating all persons with chronic HCV infection over the age of 12 with pan-genotypic DAAs. Pan-genotypic DAAs remain expensive in many high- and upper-middle-income countries. However, prices have dropped dramatically in many countries (primarily low-income and lower middle-income countries), due to the introduction of generic versions of these medicines.
Primary prevention
There is no effective vaccine against hepatitis C; prevention of HCV infection depends upon reducing the risk of exposure to the virus in health-care settings and in higher risk populations for example, people who inject drugs and men who have s*x with men, particularly those infected with HIV or those who are taking pre-exposure prophylaxis against HIV.
The following list provides a limited example of primary prevention interventions recommended by WHO:
safe and appropriate use of health care injections;
safe handling and disposal of sharps and waste;
provision of comprehensive harm-reduction services to people who inject drugs including sterile injecting equipment and effective and evidence-based treatment of dependence;
testing of donated blood for HBV and HCV (as well as HIV and syphilis);
training of health personnel;
prevention of exposure to blood during s*x;
For people infected with the hepatitis C virus, WHO recommends:
education and counselling on options for care and treatment;
immunization with the hepatitis A and B vaccines to prevent coinfection from these hepatitis viruses and to protect their liver;
early and appropriate medical management including antiviral therapy; and
regular monitoring for early diagnosis of chronic liver disease.
