How Can Hepatitis C Be Contracted?

At one time, before 1990, the most common way that Hepatitis C was spread to others was believed to be by tainted blood used in transfusions. But then the medical community found a way to test blood for the HCV infection and this risk as all but been eliminated as a cause of this very infectious disease. Before this testing began the risk of contracting Hepatitis C from tainted blood was one in two hundred.  The first tests, which began in 1990, were not great, giving off many false positives.  Within two years new improved tests, more sensitive to what was being looked for lowered the odds of getting infected blood to one in one hundred thousand.

Unfortunately there are many other ways that Hepatitis C can be passed from one infected person to another. Those in the community who are drug users are probably among the highest risk group. The sharing of any appliance or equipment used in taking drugs is one of the easiest methods of transferring this disease. That includes sharing needles or any other piece of equipment that may have blood or body fluids on it.   

Receiving an organ for transplant from someone who had the Hepatitis C virus, HCV, can give the recipient hepatitis.  Someone who is a hemophiliac or has chronic kidney failure is in the high-risk category because they are constantly exposed to blood products to keep them alive.  Health care workers must be very cautious when doing their jobs because they are in a potentially high-risk profession. A simple mistake, like pricking their finger with a needle that has blood on it from someone with the hepatitis C virus, can infect them.

For all those people who want to express themselves by getting a tattoo or a piercing you could also be at risk. Make sure that the place you go follows some basic hygiene practices. Those must include using only sterile needles when doing their job. Don't allow them to take a needle out of a drawer and begin unless the needle is in an unopened package and so will be used only for you. Otherwise, truthfully, you have no idea what diseases you could be at risk for. The tiniest bit of blood on a used needle could be all that is needed to change your life by giving you hepatitis, or even something worse. If they don't use sterile needles find somewhere that does.

Other potential risks come from sharing anything that could have blood on it. This includes a toothbrush or a razor belonging to an infected person. 

If your partner has HCV and you both remain as a monogamous couple your chance of contracting it are low, at about five percent. But if someone has multiple sexual partners, and does not practice safe sex by using condoms, they slip into the high-risk category. The unnerving part of this disease is that in about ten percent of all cases there is no obvious means of having caught the infection.

Hepatitis news on the Web

Vertex hepatitis C drug helps the hard-to-treat CAMBRIDGE -- Vertex Pharmaceuticals Inc. said Tuesday that a late-stage clinical trial showed its hepatitis C drug candidate telaprevir proved effective for patients who hadn't been helped by other treatments. Vertex Pharmaceuticals - Clinical trial - Telaprevir - Hepatitis C - Drug

60% Rise In Deaths From Liver Disease In Last Decade: Hepatitis C Is An Increasing Contributor Huge variations in hepatitis C services in hospitals across the country are revealed in a new report by the All-Party Parliamentary Hepatology Group and The Hepatitis C Trust. In The Dark found widely differing policies on who should receive treatment and the level of specialist support and care available. Hepatitis C is a preventable and treatable blood-borne virus. It is estimated that between ...

Vertex, J&J Hepatitis C Drug Works After Others Fail Vertex Pharmaceuticals Inc .’s most advanced experimental drug, in development with Johnson & Johnson, worked in patients with hepatitis C who didn’t respond to other treatment, a study found.

Bristol-Myers Buys Hepatitis Partner for $885 Million Bristol-Myers Squibb Co. said it plans to buy ZymoGenetics Inc. for $885 million to gain full ownership of a hepatitis C drug the companies are developing.

Idenix dives on hepatitis drugs action Idenix Pharmaceuticals Inc. fell the most ever in Nasdaq trading after two experimental hepatitis C drugs were placed on hold by US regulators because they produced adverse effects in testing. Nasdaq - Drug - Hepatitis C - Idenix Pharmaceuticals - Adverse effect

Idenix Shares Plunge, Hepatitis Programs Put on Hold Idenix Pharmaceuticals Inc. fell the most ever in Nasdaq trading after two experimental hepatitis C drugs were placed on hold by U.S. regulators because they produced adverse effects in testing.

Reportlinker Adds Hepatitis C Therapy Area Pipeline Report NEW YORK , Sept. 7 /PRNewswire/ -- Reportlinker.com announces that a new market research report is available in its catalogue: Hepatitis C Therapy Area Pipeline Report http://www.reportlinker.com/p0192879/Hepatitis-C-Therapy-Area-Pipeline-Report.html Life Science Analytics', Hepatitis C Therapy Area Pipeline Report contains detailed information on the hepatitis c drug ...

Bristol-Myers to Buy Partner on Hepatitis Drug for $885 Million Bristol-Myers Squibb Co. said it plans to buy ZymoGenetics Inc. for $885 million to gain full ownership of a hepatitis C drug the companies are jointly developing.

Potent New Hepatitis C Drug : Clinical Trials Moving Forward (Ivanhoe Newswire) - The first clinical trials on a new investigational drug being developed to treat infections caused by Hepatitis C virus have been successfully completed.Completion of the initial phase (phase 1a) of trials of INX-189, discovered and first prepared by researchers at Cardiff University's Welsh School of Pharmacy in 2008, means the chances of it becoming an approved medicine ...

Bristol-Myers to Buy ZymoGenetics for $885 Million to Gain Hepatitis Drug Bristol-Myers Squibb Co. said it plans to buy ZymoGenetics Inc. , the maker of a hepatitis C drug the companies are jointly developing, for $885 million.