Contents
Hepatitis C (so-called hepatitis C) is a disease caused by HCV. It is often referred to as the “viral delay bomb”. The diagnosis is most often made several dozen years after the infection. Unfortunately, then the sick person, quite often, already has a damaged liver. Meanwhile, a simple test is enough to find out if HCV has ever been present in our body, which allows us to take steps to detect it and remove it from the blood before it does serious damage.
The material was created as part of the “Qualification test for free HCV diagnostics”
Tattooing, piercing, tartar removal, manicures, and medical procedures can be dangerous if disinfection, sterilization, and changing disposable gloves are not followed after each patient. This may result in HCV infection. Most often hepatitis C does not give any characteristic symptoms, and those that appear are similar to the flu. Meanwhile, an undetected disease can lead to cirrhosis or liver cancer after many years. It is estimated that between 160 and 200 Poles may be infected with HCV, and 80 percent. he doesn’t know about his illness.
A “viable” virus
HCV retains infectivity in dry blood for up to several days. Blood-blood contact is required for infection. Historically, a large proportion of infections have occurred in medical settings – endoscopy, intravenous fluid and drug transfusions, blood transfusions, transplants, and other surgical and dental procedures. HCV was identified in 1989, but it was not until 1992 that blood tests for HCV appeared and appropriate procedures were implemented. Currently, the virus can be infected mainly during tattoos, piercings or other procedures during which the skin is broken, in institutions that do not comply with the rules of hygiene and sterilization. Intravenous drug use, even incidental, can also be the source of infection. HCV can also be passed from mother to child during pregnancy and childbirth. However, it is safe to breastfeed. The risk of infection through sexual contact is assessed as negligible, but it increases in the case of damage and inflammation of the skin and mucous membranes of the genital organs, anus and mouth. It is higher for anal intercourse.
HCV camouflage
HCV infection is in most cases without characteristic symptoms, which means that we may develop hepatitis C for many years, and we will not be aware of it. In its acute form, this disease may manifest itself as abdominal pain, heartburn, nausea, vomiting, fatigue, lack of appetite, and, less frequently, jaundice. Most often, however, there are no symptoms. In some people infected with HCV, the body is able to remove this virus from the body by itself. Then, anti-HCV antibodies will be a trace of its presence in our body, but the genetic material of the virus (HCV RNA) will no longer be present. Unfortunately, most patients develop a chronic form of the disease in which symptoms are mild or absent. However, the liver parenchyma is damaged, which can lead to cirrhosis, liver failure, and the development of primary liver cancer (hepatocellular carcinoma). In the case of the disease’s transition to the chronic phase, both anti-HCV antibodies and the genetic material of the virus will be present in the patient’s body six months after the infection.
Simple study
To check for HCV infection, a blood test should be performed to check for anti-HCV antibodies. They are formed in the body when it comes into contact with the virus. If the test result is positive (so-called reactive), it means that the subject has been exposed to the virus, but is not necessarily chronically infected with HCV. However, he must do an additional blood test to check for the presence of the virus. Only a positive result of this test, ie the presence of HCV RNA in the blood, made at least six months after the infection, indicates chronic hepatitis C. The HCV RNA test allows detecting the virus after about two weeks after the infection. A negative result of the HCV RNA test shows that the test person is not currently infected with HCV, even if anti-HCV antibodies were previously found in the person’s blood.
Currently, such a test can be used for free. It is enough to go to one of over 170 ALAB Laboratoria collection points in Poland. The action lasts until the end of this year.
A test for almost all of us
Only one in ten people infected with HCV is aware of their infection. Most often, he finds out when he becomes an honorary blood donor or is tested for the presence of the virus before a scheduled surgery. The group of people at highest risk of HCV infection includes those who had blood transfusions before 1992, were hospitalized at least three times, had surgery, delivered caesarean section, or had injected drugs at least once. If there is any suspicion that the virus may have entered the body, a blood test to detect anti-HCV antibodies should be performed. It is also worth doing this before becoming pregnant, because although the risk of transmission of HCV infection from mother to child is small, it should be remembered that such an infection may occur. The test is recommended for people whose blood tests show elevated levels of alanine aminotransferase (ALT) and aspartate aminotransferase (AST) in the blood, are chronically dialysed, are children of mothers diagnosed with HCV infection during pregnancy and are HIV-infected.
A real breakthrough in medicine
Until recently, hepatitis C, especially when detected very late, could have been a death sentence. Today it can be said that this disease is almost fully curable. Modern medicine gives 98-99% of the chance to be cured. sick. Doctors emphasize that this is a real revolution. Now they have effective therapies. The new drugs are not only much more effective, but also much better tolerated by patients. Currently, treatment is shorter than a few years ago and can last up to 8 weeks. Curing the infection prevents further hepatic and extrahepatic complications related to the presence of the virus in the body, and the patient stops infecting others.
It’s hard to protect yourself
You cannot be vaccinated against HCV. Avoiding contamination is not easy. It is worth using medical services only in professional facilities, asking in beauty salons, tattoo studios, how tools are sterilized and how surfaces that cannot be sterilized are disinfected. Risky sexual contact should be avoided. If in doubt, we should do a test. Rapid detection and effective treatment prevent more people from becoming infected and is considered a form of prophylaxis.
To take care of your health, it is worth taking advantage of the free HCV qualification test. This test is worth doing because, as mentioned before, infection can occur in many situations, from hospitalization to visiting a hairdresser. The list of test points is available at www.alablaboratoria.pl.
PL-ABBV-180046
The material was created as part of the “Qualification test for free HCV diagnostics”