Hepatitis C

What is Hepatitis C ?

Hepatitis C is a viral infection that usually causes chronic inflammation leading to serious liver damage. The hepatitis C virus (HCV) spreads through contaminated blood, contaminated syringe & unprotected sex. Can also rarely be transmitted from mother to fetus during delivery. Most people with HCV don’t know they’re infected, mainly because they have no symptoms, which can take decades to appear. Untreated chronic hepatitis C increases your risk of developing cirrhosis — a condition that causes permanent scarring of the liver, liver failure or liver cancer. Chronic hepatitis C is usually a “silent” infection for many years, until the virus damages the liver enough to cause the signs and symptoms of liver disease. Among these signs and symptoms are: Bleeding easily, Bruising easily, Fatigue, Poor appetite, Yellow discoloration of the skin and eyes (jaundice), Dark-colored urine Itchy skin, Fluid buildup in your abdomen (ascites), Swelling your legs, Weight loss, Confusion, drowsiness and slurred speech (hepatic encephalopathy), Spider-like blood vessels on your skin (spider angiomas) Every chronic hepatitis C infection starts with an acute phase Acute hepatitis C usually goes undiagnosed because it rares causes symptoms. When signs and symptoms are present, they may include jaundice, along with fatique, nausea, fever and muscle aches. Acute symptoms appear one to three months. after exposure to the virus and last two weeks to three months. Acute hepatitis C infection doesn’t always people clear HCV from their bodies outcome known as spontaneous viral clearance.