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SYMPTOMS

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HELP ELIMINATE HEP C

GET TESTED, TREATED, CURED!

IF YOU ARE SICK, #STAYHOME

Call a healthcare provider if you have symptoms

Symptoms may appear 2-14 days after exposure to the virus. People with these symptoms or combinations of symptoms may have COVID-19:

Cough
Shortness of breath or difficulty breathing

Or at least two of these symptoms:

Fever
Chills
Repeated shaking with chills
Muscle pain

Headache
Sore throat
New loss of taste or smell

WHAT IS

HEP C?

Hepatitis C is a liver infection caused by the hepatitis C virus (HCV). Hepatitis C is a blood-borne virus. Today, most people become infected with the hepatitis C virus by sharing needles or other equipment to inject drugs.

For some people, hepatitis C is a short-term illness but for 70%–85% of people who become infected with the hepatitis C virus, it becomes a long-term, chronic infection. Chronic hepatitis C is a serious disease than can result in long-term health problems, even death. Many people might not be aware of their infection because they do not have symptoms. There is no vaccine for hepatitis C. The best way to prevent hepatitis C is by avoiding behaviors that can spread the disease, such as sharing drug use equipment.

Who is at risk

for GETTING HCV?

People who inject drugs, including those who injected only once many years ago
Those born from 1945 through 1965
Recipients of clotting factor concentrates made before 1987, when less advanced methods for manufacturing those products were used
Recipients of blood transfusions or solid organ transplants prior to July 1992, before better testing of blood donors became available
Chronic hemodialysis patients
People with known exposures to HCV, such as
- health care workers after needlesticks involving HCV-positive blood
- recipients of blood or organs from a donor who tested HCV-positive
People with HIV infection
Children born to mothers infected with HCV
People who are or have been incarcerated
People who use intranasal drugs
People who received body piercing or tattoos done with non-sterile instruments.

If you think you might have been exposed to hep C but are not sure, then you should get tested. Learn more about the testing process.

HELP ELIMINATE HEP C

GET TESTED, TREATED, CURED!

How is

HEPATITIS C

transmitted?

Hep C is spread when the blood of a person who has the virus enters the body of a person who does not have the virus. Hep C is NOT spread through casual contact, such as sneezing, hugging, or sharing eating or drinking utensils.

How soon after exposure

do HCV symptoms appear??

What blood test are used

In those people who do develop symptoms, the average period from exposure to symptom onset is 2–12 weeks (range: 2–26 weeks).

to detect hcv infection?

Two tests are needed to determine if you have hep C: 1) the hep C antibody test; and 2) the hep C RNA test. Your health care provider may perform both tests from one blood sample.

What are the

signs and symptoms

of CHRONIC HCV infection?

People with newly acquired HCV infection usually are asymptomatic or have mild symptoms that are unlikely to prompt a visit to a health care professional and is usually cleared within six months of infection.
For those who develop chronic HCV, common symptoms they can include: