Can hepatitis C be completely cured?

Currently, the public perceives group C hepatitis as a disease that progresses among people who use intravenous drugs. At the same time, there is a group of people who are terribly afraid of getting infected with this form of hepatitis at an appointment in a cosmetic or nail salon, so they take all kinds of security measures.

Is hepatitis a problem for people at risk?

At that moment, when a person becomes ill with hepatitis, other pressing problems fade into the background for him. The main task of the patient is a speedy recovery and return to the usual way of life. Human infection with the hepatitis B virus can occur not only through contact with the biological material of the patient.

There are a large number of cases when this viral infection entered the human body during a visit to the dental office, tattoo parlor, manicure room, medical institution, etc. Naturally, the risk group is headed by drug addicts who inject intravenously daily, and often one syringe is used by the whole company.

How can you get hepatitis C?

Group C hepatitis is transmitted exclusively by the parenteral route. During infection, a viral infection enters the wound of a person, which is contained in the biological material of a patient with hepatitis.

Unlike group B hepatitis, this form of the disease is rarely transmitted during unprotected sexual contact. According to available statistics, the chance of contracting hepatitis C among sexual partners who do not use condoms is approximately 5% over 10 years of the total number of patients.

Features of the hepatitis C virus

The hepatitis C virus cannot remain viable in the external environment for a long time. After the blood dries, the virus dies, so that if particles of dry biological material enter the open wound of a person, infection with this disease will not occur.

Unlike hepatitis C, group B virus infection has an amazing viability. It can remain active for decades under any external influence.

The only way to clean any item from the presence of contaminated biological material is to carry out a two-hour sanitization at a high temperature. The hepatitis B virus can be destroyed at a temperature of 300 °C.

How can you protect yourself from getting hepatitis?

Experts suggest that people regularly take preventive measures that will help protect themselves from hepatitis C infection.

Modern medicine strongly recommends that precautions be taken by both people and employees of medical institutions and the service sector:

• use disposable instruments when performing medical procedures;

• regularly sanitize the tools used by manicure, tattoo and beauty parlors;

• when taking blood, it is necessary to carefully check the biological material, which must be kept in quarantine for a certain amount of time;

• with any suspicion of the presence of a virus in the blood, it is necessary to do a repeated, more detailed analysis, etc.

How should you behave when visiting a dentist or beauty salon?

Sanitary standards have been developed for medical institutions and institutions that provide cosmetic services, which relate to both cleaning the premises and processing tools. Currently, these requirements are strictly observed, since each institution is responsible for the life and health of its clients and does not want to independently provoke the emergence of problem situations.

In tattoo parlors, the situation is much more complicated, as many offices work informally and save on expensive disinfectants.

How long can hepatitis virus stay in a patient’s body without symptoms?

After the penetration of a viral infection into the human body, it should take a little time before it begins to multiply. At this time, the patient will not experience any discomfort or other symptoms inherent in group C hepatitis. Even a laboratory blood test will not be able to detect the presence of the virus.

Most patients learn that they are carriers of the hepatitis virus during a comprehensive examination conducted before a planned surgical intervention.

What is the difference between forms of hepatitis from each other?

Modern medicine classifies hepatitis as follows:

• hepatitis form A – treatable and does not become chronic (an effective vaccine has been developed against it);

• Hepatitis form D – is a rare virus that develops in patients infected with hepatitis B;

• hepatitis forms F and E – do not progress on the territory of the Russian Federation;

• hepatitis forms B and C are the most common forms of this disease, against which cirrhosis or liver cancer often develops (from these forms of hepatitis by far the highest mortality).

Who can be a carrier of the virus?

When the hepatitis C virus enters the human body, the following occurs:

• a person becomes a carrier of the virus;

• the patient is infected;

• the person is sick and needs emergency treatment.

Group C hepatitis can lie dormant throughout life and not cause concern in a person. Cirrhosis of the liver in this case may develop in some patients 20 years after infection, while in other patients it will not develop even after 60 years.

Should hepatitis C be treated?

With timely diagnosis and prescribed complex treatment for patients, there is a very positive prognosis. Modern methods of treating hepatitis C make it possible to completely cure the patient and, several years after the end of therapy, rid his blood of the presence of antibodies of this virus.

According to available forecasts, in the near future, new drugs will be introduced that can help more than 90% of patients with hepatitis. Some drugs will be submitted for state registration this year. With their help, it will be possible to significantly increase the effect of drug therapy.

Can hepatitis C go away on its own?

There is a category of patients in whom hepatitis C antibodies are detected during a laboratory blood test, but the RNA virus itself is not detected.

Such results allow us to state that the patient had recently been ill with hepatitis, but at the time of the examination he had recovered. In 70% of cases, hepatitis simply becomes chronic, and 30% of patients who are cured can re-transfer this disease.

Does the hepatitis B vaccine protect against infection with the virus?

With the progression of group B hepatitis, patients are prescribed special drugs that can suppress the virus and prevent its reproduction. Patients should take such drugs regularly, until the restoration of liver function.

Vaccination against hepatitis B will protect the patient’s body for 5 years, after which a second vaccination will have to be carried out. If a pregnant woman is a carrier of this form of the virus, she can infect her baby during labor. That is why such newborn children are immediately vaccinated against hepatitis, which prevents further development of the infection.

At what age should one get vaccinated against hepatitis B?

Participation in vaccination is an individual matter for each person. Before visiting a medical facility, the patient should consider for himself all the possible risks of hepatitis B infection at a young age, when people lead a riotous lifestyle, it is necessary to be vaccinated against this disease.

In old age, the likelihood of direct contact with the biological material of a sick person does not decrease for a person, so it is best to provide additional protection to your body. Each person should remember that 5 years after vaccination, it is necessary to carry out revaccination.

Can you get hepatitis B through unprotected sex?

Due to the fact that the hepatitis B virus is contained not only in the patient’s blood, but also in all mucosal secretions, when engaging in unprotected sex, the likelihood of contracting this disease increases several times. When kissing, the virus can be transmitted only if a healthy person has fresh lesions on the tongue or oral mucosa. 

Will a hepatitis C vaccine be developed?

When a person is infected with the hepatitis C virus, the immune system immediately enters the battle, which negatively affects the liver cells. The immune system of the patient alone will not be able to cope with this disease. For these purposes, a drug has been developed that is able to cope with this form of the virus. Despite all the conducted clinical trials, which were very successful, this drug was never presented on the domestic market. In the event that an annual vaccination is carried out, the patient’s body will no longer recognize this viral infection.

What should a patient do if he suspects that he has the hepatitis virus?

In the event that a person suspects he has hepatitis, he needs to contact a medical institution, an infectious disease specialist. A narrow-profile specialist will conduct a comprehensive examination and, after confirming the diagnosis, will prescribe a constructive treatment.

Currently, there are special hepatological centers, which employ highly qualified specialists who can treat any form of hepatitis. Many patients receive treatment in such medical institutions under regional programs or special quotas, which significantly reduces their overall costs.

Who chooses the treatment method for the patient?

To determine which therapy is suitable for a particular patient, a specialist must conduct a comprehensive examination. Based on the collected history of the disease, the results of a laboratory blood test and a liver biopsy, the doctor will determine how likely it is to develop cirrhosis.

In the event that a patient comes to the appointment who has been suffering from hepatitis for 15 years and for him there is a high probability, after 10 years, to get cirrhosis of the liver, the doctor prescribes constructive therapy.

If a young man who has been a carrier of this virus for no more than a year comes to the doctor with symptoms of hepatitis, the specialist will recommend that he wait several years with therapy, subject to all the instructions and recommendations. After 5-6 years, such a patient will undergo a course of treatment that will rid him of the hepatitis virus in just a few months.  

What should patients do?

In developed foreign countries, patients who have been diagnosed with hepatitis C undergo complex treatment at the expense of the state. For example, 3500 patients diagnosed with hepatitis B have been identified in Hungary. The state pays for their treatment in full and makes sure that they cannot infect other citizens. For patients with hepatitis C, 14 centers have been created, where they undergo not only hepatological examination, but also receive free treatment.

In Russia today there is no legislative basis for the state to take responsibility for the life and health of this category of patients. Today, only HIV-infected patients receive free medicines and medical care in specialized institutions. In the event that patients with hepatitis will more actively show their position, then in the near future the state will treat them free of charge.