What I need to know about Hepatitis C

What is hepatitis C?

Hepatitis C is a liver disease. Hepatitis * means inflammation of the liver. Inflammation is the painful, red swelling that results when tissues of the body become injured or infected. Inflammation can cause organs to not work properly.

What causes hepatitis C?

The hepatitis C virus causes hepatitis C. Viruses are germs that can cause sickness. For example, the flu is caused by a virus. People can pass viruses to each other.

Who gets hepatitis C?

Anyone can get hepatitis C, but some people are at higher risk, including

people who were born to a mother with hepatitis C
people who have had more than one sex partner in the last 6 months or have a history of sexually transmitted disease
people who had a blood transfusion or organ transplant before July 1992
people with hemophilia who received blood products before 1987
people who have used illegal injection drugs

How could I get hepatitis C?

You could get hepatitis C through contact with an infected person’s blood.

You could get hepatitis C from

being born to a mother with hepatitis C
having sex with an infected person
being tattooed or pierced with unsterilized tools that were used on an infected person
getting an accidental needle stick with a needle that was used on an infected person
using an infected person’s razor or toothbrush
sharing drug needles with an infected person

How could I get hepatitis C?

You could get hepatitis C through contact with an infected person’s blood.

You could get hepatitis C from

being born to a mother with hepatitis C
having sex with an infected person
being tattooed or pierced with unsterilized tools that were used on an infected person
getting an accidental needle stick with a needle that was used on an infected person
using an infected person’s razor or toothbrush
sharing drug needles with an infected person

You cannot get hepatitis C from

shaking hands with an infected person
hugging an infected person
sitting next to an infected person