What is Hepatitis C?
Hepatitis C is a form of liver inflammation and a liver disease caused by the hepatitis C virus. The virus
is a small (40 to 60 nanometers in diameter), enveloped, single-stranded RNA virus of the family
Flaviviridae and genus hepacivirus. Because the virus mutates rapidly, changes in the envelope proteins
may help it evade the immune system.

What are the symptoms of Hepatitis C?
Most people do not experience any symptoms when they first become infected with hepatitis C. Some
infected people remain well throughout their life and develop no damage or problems to their liver.
Others with chronic hepatitis C (ongoing) will develop some symptoms of liver damage, symptoms,
though not common, may include:
• Diarrhoea,
• weight loss,
• nausea and vomiting,
• loss of appetite,
• fatigue,
• vague flu-like,
• muscle aches,
• alcohol intolerance,
• pain over the liver, and jaundice this causes your skin and the whites of your eyes to become yellow,
turn your urine very dark and your faeces may become pale.
Approximately 20% of those with chronic hepatitis C develop cirrhosis, a scarring of the liver, over
a period of about 20-30 years.A few of those people then go on to develop liver cancer or complete
liver failure.

Types of Hepatitis C
Hepatitis C can be classified into two types.
Acute Hepatitis C and Chronic Hepatitis C
Acute Hepatitis C is diagnosed on the basis of symptoms such as jaundice, fatigue, and nausea, along
with marked increases in serum ALT (usually greater than 10-fold elevation), and presence of
anti-HCV. Only 1 in 10 patients with acute hepatitis has symptoms. The remaining nine have no symptoms whatsoever.
Chronic Hepatitis C is diagnosed when anti-HCV is present and serum aminotransferase levels remain
elevated for more than 6 months.Testing for HCV RNA (by PCR) confirms the diagnosis and
documents that viraemia is present; almost all patients with chronic infection will have the viral genome
detectable in serum by PCR. In 8 out of 10 patients, the infection becomes chronic.

What causes Hepatitis C?
• Through sexual contact, but the risk is very small. Surveys of spouses and monogamous sexual
partners of patients with hepatitis C show that fewer than 5 percent are infected with HCV. Spread of
hepatitis C to a spouse or partner in stable, monogamous relationships occurs in less than 1 percent of
partners per year.
• Maternal-infant transmission is not common. In most studies, less than 5 percent of infants born to
HCV-infected mothers become infected.
• The main cause of Hepatitis C is through contact with an infected person's blood. The virus can be
contracted by accidental pricking with a contaminated needle - this mainly concerns healthcare workers.
And Hepatitis C is common in intravenous drug users due to their sharing of contaminated needles.
Many other Americans contracted hepatitis in the military. Entire groups of soldiers were inoculated
with the same instruments. Even though the needle was supposed to be an air blast, skin was broken
and blood was exchanged. Hepatitis C transmission resulted, on a mass scale. It is also seen in
haemophiliacs and people who have had blood transfusions or treatment with blood products and
hemodialysis for kidney failure.
• Other people may have visited unclean tattoo parlors or acupuncture shops.
• About one third of all cases of hepatitis C come from an unidentifiable source.

Diagnosis of Hepatitis C
Diagnosis of acute disease can be problematic because anti-HCV is not always present when the patient
presents to the physician with symptoms. In 30 to 40 percent of patients, anti-HCV is not detected
until 2 to 8 weeks after onset of symptoms. Acute hepatitis C can also be diagnosed by testing for
HCV RNA, but another approach is to repeat the anti-HCV testing a month after onset of illness.

Diagnosis of chronic hepatitis C is problematic in patients who cannot produce anti-HCV because they
are immunosuppressed or immunoincompetent. Thus, HCV RNA testing may be required for patients
who have a solid-organ transplant, are on dialysis, are taking corticosteroids, or have
agammaglobulinemia. Diagnosis is also difficult in patients with anti-HCV who have another form of
liver disease that might be responsible for the liver injury, such as alcoholism, iron overload, or
autoimmunity. In these situations, the anti-HCV may represent a false-positive reaction, previous HCV
infection, or mild hepatitis C occurring on top of another liver condition. HCV RNA testing in these
situations helps confirm that hepatitis C is contributing to the liver problem.

How hepatitis C infection is treated?
In approximately 20% of people the virus is cleared from the body by the immune system within six
months.
Chronic Hepatitis C can be treated by a combination of interferon alfa injections and ribavirin capsules.
Half of the patients will benefit from the treatment.
This treatment is used for chronically infected HCV patients who have symptoms of worsening chronic
liver disease (jaundice, scarring or fibrosis) determined through a liver biopsy. This treatment is usually
not for those who are chronically infected but have no significant liver biopsy changes. Almost half of
liver transplants in the United States are done for hepatitis C liver failure.
Hepatitis C infection can also be treated with medications, but some drugs may bring some side effects.
Such as the medication alpha interferon and combination therapy Autoimmune disease (especially
thyroid disease)
Severe bacterial infections
Marked thrombocytopenia
Marked neutropenia
Seizures
Depression and suicidal ideation or attempts
Retinopathy (microhemorrhages)
Hearing loss and tinnitus.
Of cause these side effects are uncommon. (occurring in less than 2 percent of patients)

How to prevent Hepatitis C?
• Avoid sharing needles and syringes.
• Avoid sharing razors and toothbrushes with an infected person.
• Unfortunately, there is no vaccine to prevent hepatitis C virus infection.
Precautions should be taken when handling anything that could have been contaminated with blood
from an infected HCV person such as razors, scissors, toothbrushes, nail files, clippers and tampons.
Practice safe sex.