Many people are aware of such a dangerous disease as hepatitis B, since according to the law, all newborns are vaccinated against it in the hospital. But this is not the only form of the disease. From its other form, hepatitis C, a vaccine does not yet exist. Therefore, everyone needs to know how hepatitis C is transmitted in order to protect themselves from accidental infection.
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What is hepatitis C
Hepatitis C is a dangerous infectious liver disease that can occur in acute or chronic form. The viruses of the disease are very diverse: only their genotypes, there are about 11 pieces, while some of them have several subspecies. Very often, the acute form is transformed into a chronic, affecting liver until the end of life. Having penetrated into the organ, the virus causes cells to produce new viral biological formations. An infected cell produces at least 4-5 dozen viruses per day and eventually dies.
Being in the body, the virus constantly mutates. This greatly depletes the immune system. But if the immunity is strong, it can still overcome the disease. However, such an outcome of events is quite rare - in only 10-12% of cases.
Ways of transmission of the disease
The main route of infection is through the blood. The vast majority of patients are drug addicts who become infected through the sharing of non-sterile needles during drug administration.
Methods of infection may also be as follows:
- acquisition by a baby of a virus from a sick mother;
- the use of non-sterile equipment in clinics, hospitals and cosmetology rooms;
- in everyday life through personal hygiene items in contact with blood (razors, blades);
- unprotected sex.
Inquiring whether hepatitis C is sexually transmitted, one must take into account that the likelihood of infection increases with the presence of promiscuous connections, sexually transmitted diseases or HIV infection.
Many worry whether hepatitis C is transmitted through saliva, hugs, during a common meal. The disease can not be infected either by airborne droplets, or during breastfeeding, or through other household contacts.
The only route of infection is direct contact with infected blood, including dried spots, since the virus can continue to live outside the body for up to several days.
A sick family member should follow certain rules to protect other relatives:
- Do not use personal hygiene items that can become a factor in infection (razors, machines, epilators, manicure sets);
- urgently treat bleeding wounds so that blood gets less outward (the provider must always wear protective gloves);
- to process places where blood accidentally got in with a disinfectant;
- items stained with blood, it is better to boil or rub in very hot water.
The brighter a person's symptoms are, the more dangerous it is for others. The chance of infection from a virus carrier is much lower than from a patient in a progressive stage.
Major risk groups
Most often, this type of hepatitis affects young people. But recently, middle-aged and elderly people are becoming more and more infected. More than 3-4 million cases of infection with the disease are registered annually.
The following categories of the population are at risk:
- persons who inject drugs;
- hemodialysis patients;
- persons who have pierced or tattoos with non-sterile instruments;
- babies born to infected mothers;
- persons with HIV infection;
- people who have had blood injected or transplanted before 1990;
- medical personnel in case of unprotected contact with infected blood;
- sexual partners of people infected with hepatitis.
People from these risk groups are required to regularly take appropriate tests. Most often, this is an analysis of Anti-HCV antibodies, which gives information about whether a person has ever had contact with the virus. If the answer is no, then there was no contact; if it was, there was.
But the presence of antibodies does not mean that there is a virus in the blood. If the answer is yes, a detailed analysis for the presence of the virus is prescribed and only then give an accurate answer. All this is necessary in order to detect the infection in time, not to spread it further and to begin treatment in a timely manner.
Forms of Hepatitis C
There is an acute and chronic form of the disease. Hepatitis C is most easily recognized precisely in the case of the acute phase, since all the symptoms are quite clear. The incubation period can last from 3 days to six months. The disease lasts about 3 weeks. In the vast majority of cases, it passes into the chronic stage.
A person may not suspect a chronic course of the disease without a preliminary acute stage for decades, not knowing that the virus has been doing its destructive work all this time.
If the immunity is greatly weakened, the patient abuses alcohol and already in old age, the prognosis is disappointing.
The young body is able to resist and fight the virus for a long time, so only 20% of infected schoolchildren develop chronic hepatitis, the rest recover.
First symptoms and signs
Symptoms of acute hepatitis C:
- persistent weakness;
- dark shade of urine;
- nausea and vomiting;
- a sharp decrease in appetite;
- pain in the abdomen;
- light feces;
- yellowish skin tone (sometimes);
- high fever (occasionally) .https: //www.youtube.com/watch? v = 5spkOEW-w_Y
In exceptional cases, patients still complain of joint pain and skin rashes.
Symptoms of a chronic form are not so pronounced:
- fatigue;
- pain or a feeling of heaviness under the right hypochondrium, especially after eating;
- gradual weight loss;
- insomnia, restless sleep;
- irritability and depression.
These signs are nonspecific, so few people associate them with liver disease. If the patient does not pay attention to these symptoms, his condition gradually worsens.
The severe course of the disease is characterized by such signs:
- constant taste of bitterness in the mouth;
- yellowness of the skin;
- dull pain and heaviness on the right under the ribs;
- swelling of the legs;
- nausea;
- loss of appetite;
- change the color of the selection;
- deformation of the fingers;
- vasodilation.
Severe liver failure often leads to mental disorders - hallucinations, depression, a sharp decrease in mental abilities.
How many live with hepatitis C
Timely treatment started, provided that the liver is not yet very destroyed, is capable of much. A cured patient can live a full life, subject to the recommendations of the doctor.
If untreated, the life expectancy and prognosis of the course of the disease vary greatly. Some can live with hepatitis C from 15-25 years old, not particularly suffering from it, while others, after 4-5 years, serious complications develop that end in death. The danger to life is not so much hepatitis itself as its complications - cirrhosis, hepatosis and cancer.
Not so long ago, hepatitis C was considered a slowly progressive, but incurable disease. A new generation of antiviral drugs can effectively fight the virus. Therefore, in case of infection, treatment should be started immediately.
