Hepatitis C: causes, symptoms and treatment

By Cristiano Antonino Last updated Nov 10, 2022

Hepatitis C (Hcv) is an infectious disease of the liver that is transmitted through infected blood. Widespread throughout the world, it is most prevalent among drug addicts

Signs and symptoms of Hepatitis C

Hepatitis C has an incubation period of 2 weeks to 6 months.

During this time, symptoms may appear with varying intensity and more subtle than in hepatitis B.

Some people who are infected show no symptoms at all, in other cases fatigue, jaundice (yellowing of the skin and the sclerae of the eyes), fatigue, loss of appetite, headache and sometimes abdominal pain and fever may appear.

When the infection lasts longer than six months it becomes chronic and is referred to as ‘chronic Hepatitis C infection’.

A percentage of people with chronic Hepatitis C see the disease progress and report subsequent liver damage (cirrhosis) and cancer (hepatocarcinoma).

Several factors play an important role in the development of cirrhosis

age at the time of infection
alcohol abuse
co-infection with HIV
co-infection with the hepatitis B virus.

Causes and transmission of Hepatitis C

Hcv infection is transmitted through biological fluids, such as infected blood and blood derivatives.

Until the 1990s, blood and blood product transfusions accounted for 90% of the risk factor for transmission.

However, the introduction of blood donation testing and preventive screening by means of anti-HCV antibody testing has considerably reduced the risk of infection.

Sexual transmission, on the other hand, is less frequent (the risk increases in the case of unprotected intercourse with multiple partners) and mother-to-child transmission is rarer.

Who is at risk of contracting Hepatitis C virus

Although anyone can fall ill with Hepatitis C, certain categories of people are at greater risk of coming into contact with the Hcv virus.

These include

those who engage in unprotected sex with multiple partners
drug addicts
people infected with HIV
recipients of transfusions (with the limitations indicated above)
haemodialysis patients
family members and persons in contact with infected persons
children born to Hcv-positive mothers
people exposed to blood and/or the use of needles and syringes if not perfectly sterilised
people who practice and do piercings, manicures, pedicures
patients undergoing haemodialysis.

How Hepatitis C is diagnosed

The diagnosis of Hepatitis C is made by searching for HCV markers and antibodies in the blood (to determine whether a person has come into contact with the virus and has developed antibodies) and by searching for HCV-RNA (to determine the presence or absence of the virus in the blood).

Once the presence of the virus is confirmed, a liver biopsy can be performed to assess the extent and type of liver damage.

Your doctor may also prescribe tests to assess liver function (via transaminase and gamma-GT enzyme values).

Hepatitis C therapies

In the case of Hepatitis C, the reference treatment involves a combination of pegylated interferon alpha and ribavirin, an effective therapy but not without side effects.

To these, two new antiviral drugs, boceprevir and telaprevir, were added in 2011 for the more difficult-to-treat genotypes.

The use of immunoglobulins, on the other hand, has not proved effective.

How to prevent Hepatitis C

To date, a specific vaccine against Hepatitis C is not yet available and is currently in the experimental phase.

The only effective measures against transmission of the Hcv virus are observance of general hygiene rules, sterilisation of instruments used for surgical procedures and cosmetic treatments, protection of sexual relations, and informing the partner of the infection with a recommendation to have a test performed.

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