Test results can take anywhere from a few days to a few weeks to come back. Rapid anti-HCV tests are available in some health clinics, and the results of these tests are available in 20—30 minutes. Your doctor will help interpret the results from your HCV antibody test and help guide you through next steps. It is important to know that. After exposure to the hepatitis C virus, it can take 8—11 weeks for an HCV antibody test to be positive.
For most people who are infected, the anti-HCV blood test will become positive by 6 months after exposure. For people with hepatitis C, it is common for liver enzyme levels to go up and down, sometimes returning to normal or near normal. Some people with hepatitis C have liver enzyme levels that are normal for over a year even though they have chronic liver disease. People with chronic hepatitis C and those with cirrhosis even if they have been cured of their hepatitis C infection should be monitored regularly by a doctor, because these people have a continued risk of complications of advanced liver disease, including liver cancer.
In addition, people living with hepatitis C should. There is no evidence that people can get hepatitis C from food handlers, teachers, or other service providers without blood-to-blood contact. Skip directly to site content Skip directly to page options Skip directly to A-Z link.
Viral Hepatitis. Section Navigation. Facebook Twitter LinkedIn Syndicate. Hepatitis C Questions and Answers for the Public. Minus Related Pages. Index of Questions Overview and Statistics.
What is hepatitis? What is the difference between hepatitis A, hepatitis B, and hepatitis C? What is hepatitis C? How serious is chronic hepatitis C? How likely is it that someone with acute hepatitis C will become chronically infected? Is it possible for someone with hepatitis C to get better without treatment?
How common is acute hepatitis C in the United States? How common is chronic hepatitis C in the United States? How is hepatitis C spread? Can you get hepatitis C more than once? Can hepatitis C virus be spread through sexual contact? Can you get hepatitis C by getting a tattoo or piercing?
Can hepatitis C be spread within a household? Who is at risk for hepatitis C? Can a person be infected with both HIV and the hepatitis C virus? What is the risk of a pregnant woman passing hepatitis C to her baby? Can women with hepatitis C breastfeed their babies? Can I get hepatitis C from a mosquito or other insect bite? Can I donate blood if I have tested positive for hepatitis C? Can someone with hepatitis C donate organs?
What are the symptoms of acute new hepatitis C? What are the symptoms of chronic long-term hepatitis C? Can I spread hepatitis C without having symptoms? Who should get tested for hepatitis C? Since an HCV infection can show no symptoms, the number of new cases is likely higher than reported, according to the CDC. Hepatitis C can lead to cirrhosis, especially if left untreated. Without treatment, cirrhosis can lead to liver cancer and liver failure.
Treating cirrhosis and liver cancer typically requires a liver transplant. A transplant can cure both cancer and liver function impairment. But a transplant is only available for a small number of people.
A review of the impact of interferon therapy on HCV-related cancers concluded that the treatment is beneficial in the outlook of the disease. This is the first drug approved to treat six genotypes of hepatitis C. Treatment options and new drug regimens for hepatitis C are rapidly evolving. This was 4 weeks shorter than most other treatments with similar results. Instead of liver biopsies, newer imaging tests, magnetic resonance elastography MRE , and transient elastography are now being used to measure the stiffness of the liver to determine the extent of the damage.
As of , researchers are still working on a vaccine. The virus is unique because it has at least seven distinct forms and 67 subtypes. This variability and immunological challenges are hurdles to vaccine success. The outlook for hepatitis C depends on the type of virus causing it. In many cases, people may not know they have acute hepatitis C, which in about half of cases clears on its own.
Drug therapies for chronic hepatitis C can clear the virus, and newer therapies are frequently improving the success rates of these treatments. Overall, the outlook improves with early diagnosis. Hepatitis C treatments are costly, but can lead to undetectable viral loads — at which point a person is considered cured.
Learn how to manage your…. Rick Nash was diagnosed with hepatitis C when he was 12 years old. Find out what he wishes he knew when he was diagnosed and how he eventually reached….
Certain medications and supplements can cause more harm to your liver than good. Most adults infected with hepatitis B are able to fight off the virus and fully recover from the infection within a couple of months.
But most people infected as children develop a long-term infection. This is known as chronic hepatitis B, and can lead to cirrhosis and liver cancer. Antiviral medication can be used to treat it.
In the UK, vaccination against hepatitis B is recommended for people in high-risk groups, such as:. In , the hepatitis B vaccine was added to the routine immunisation programme so all children can benefit from protection from this virus. Hepatitis C is caused by the hepatitis C virus and is the most common type of viral hepatitis in the UK. Poor healthcare practices and unsafe medical injections are the main way it's spread outside the UK. Hepatitis C often causes no noticeable symptoms, or only flu-like symptoms, so many people are unaware they're infected.
Around 1 in 4 people will fight off the infection and be free of the virus. In the remaining cases, it'll stay in the body for many years. Chronic hepatitis C can be treated with very effective antiviral medications, but there's currently no vaccine available.
Hepatitis D is caused by the hepatitis D virus. It only affects people who are already infected with hepatitis B, as it needs the hepatitis B virus to be able to survive in the body. Hepatitis D is usually spread through blood-to-blood contact or sexual contact. Long-term infection with hepatitis D and hepatitis B can increase your risk of developing serious problems, such as cirrhosis and liver cancer.
There's no vaccine specifically for hepatitis D, but the hepatitis B vaccine can help protect you from it.
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