Hepatitis C (HCV) is a virus that affects the liver with an acute (short-term) illness or chronic (long-term) illness and can lead to serious liver problems, including cirrhosis or liver cancer. Approximately 3.2 million people, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, are infected with hepatitis C; many of them are unaware they are infected. Hepatitis C is highly contagious and is passed from one person to another through contact with infected blood; therefore, those exposed to blood products are at the highest risk.
Occupation and Behavior
Health care professionals, such as doctors, nurses and paramedics, are at an increased risk for contracting hepatitis C because they are exposed to blood on a daily basis. Transmission of the virus is most likely to occur by an accidental stick with a needle contaminated with an infected person's blood. Although the risk of contracting hepatitis C through sexual contact is considered by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention to be low, it is a possibility. Those with multiple sex partners or who engage in rough sex are at the highest risk of infection. In addition, those currently infected with HIV are at a higher risk of infection.
Contaminated Equipment
The group of people with the highest risk of contracting hepatitis C is illicit drug users. Drug users who inject illegal drugs often share needles and, therefore, pass the virus on to others. The virus may not cause symptoms until many years later, so even those who injected drugs many years ago are at risk. Hepatitis C can also be passed between people through contaminated equipment used in body piercings or tattoos. Those who have piercings and tattoos are therefore at a higher risk of infection. In addition to needles, hepatitis C can be passed through sharing contaminated razors or toothbrushes as these items can transfer infected blood from one person to another.
Medical Procedures
Those who have received blood products or organ transplants are also at risk for contracting hepatitis C. Anyone undergoing a blood transfusion or organ transplant after 1992, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, has a very low risk, however, because screening the blood for infectious diseases including hepatitis C became a common practice that year. Other medically related procedures that pose a risk for contracting hepatitis C include hemodialysis for treating kidney failure and receiving clotting factors especially prior to 1987. Women who have hepatitis C can also pass the virus along to their unborn children.
