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A B C D E F G H I J K L M N O P Q R S T U V W X Y Z
Viral Hepatitis
Hepatitis C
Disease Spread
Primarily through contact with infected blood; less commonly, through sexual contact and childbirth.
People at Risk
Injection drug users, people who have sex with an infected person, people who have multiple sex partners, health care workers, infants born to infected women, hemodialysis patients, and people who received a transfusion of blood or blood products before July 1992 or clotting factors made before 1987.
Prevention
There is no vaccine for hepatitis C; the only way to prevent the disease is to reduce the risk of exposure to the virus. This means avoiding behaviors like sharing drug needles or sharing personal items like toothbrushes, razors, and nail clippers with an infected person.
Treatment
Chronic hepatitis C: drug treatment with peginterferon alone or combination treatment with peginterferon and the drug ribavirin.
Acute hepatitis C: treatment is recommended if it does not resolve within 2 to 3 months.
