What is Hepatitis C?

This Hackney pharmacy has been pilot testing Hep C screening

Page last updated at 12:48 GMT, Wednesday, 18 August 2010 13:48 UK

More than 45,000 Londoners are believed to have Hepatitis C without knowing it.

Latest figures by the Hepatitis C Trust suggest 53,145 suffer from the disease in the capital - 7,386 have been diagnosed but a further 45,759 are estimated to be undiagnosed.

What is Hepatitis C?

Hepatitis C is an infection with the hepatitis C virus. Although there is no vaccine to protect against infection, there is effective treatment available.

Hepatitis C is a blood-borne virus that predominantly infects the cells of the liver. This can cause inflammation of and sometimes significant damage to the liver and affect its ability to perform its many, varied and essential functions.

According to the Hepatitis C Trust, although it has always been regarded as a liver disease (hepatitis means inflammation of the liver), recent research has shown that Hepatitis C affects a number of other areas of the body including the digestive system, the lymphatic system, the immune system and the brain.

Many do not realise they have it because they have no symptoms - it can take decades for symptoms to appear and by then serious damage can be caused.

Symptoms

Possible symptoms of Hepatitis C infection include:

• Fatigue
• Weight loss
• Loss of appetite
• Joint pains
• Nausea
• Flu-like symptoms (fever, headaches, sweats)
• Anxiety
• Difficulty concentrating
• Alcohol intolerance and pain in the liver area

How is it contracted?

-- Regularly sharing razors or toothbrushes (with a person who has Hepatitis C or B)
--Tattoos/piercings/acupuncture (in unregistered premises or with possibly unsterile equipment or with needles that were not new)
-- Unprotected sex - Hepatitis B (not C)
-- Sniffing/snorting cocaine (sharing pipes, notes or straws with a person with Hepatitis B or C
-- Receiving a blood transfusion/blood products /organ transplantation prior to 1991
-- Intravenous drug use - sharing needles with someone with Hepatitis B or C

Hepatitis B

Hepatitis B can be transmitted through blood and some body fluid contact and sexually transmitted. A vaccine and treatment is available which can manage but not clear the virus.

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