Hepatitis C Transmission
What Needs To Happen For Positive Hepatitis C Transmission?
Hepatitis C transmission happens during any exchange of blood from one person to another. It needs to be a direct, blood to blood transaction between an infected person and another, and this can happen in a multitude of ways. Over 30% of those who have suffered hepatitis C transmission have no idea where they got the virus from, and this causes a bit of a fright as to how many people are actually carrying it without knowing. This virus can live within your body for years without causing any symptoms of illness, which is why it’s important to have yourself checked regularly if the question of your health should arise. We will discuss the effects of hepatitis C, as well as the most common ways of contracting it.
It is a pretty regular occurrence for hepatitis C transmission to go undetected for up to 15 years, and this can cause quite a dilemma with the spread of the disease. Because most cases are stumbled upon by accident during routine blood donations or tests, it is difficult to assess which cases are acute, or less than 6 months old, and which ones are chronic, meaning that they have been dormant for a long period of time. The most common symptoms of hepatitis C transmission are likely to be fatigue, achy or painful joints, itchy skin, darkness to the urine, pain in the abdomen or stomach, and pain and soreness in the muscles. Jaundice, a condition having to do with the liver where the eyes and the skin take on a yellow tinge, is also a warning sign of hepatitis C.
A few more signals of hepatitis C transmission would be the shrinking of the muscles and the swelling of fatty tissues. These conditions, along with redness on the palms of the hands are an indication that chronic, long term hepatitis C has begun to destroy the liver, and you will need to be under constant medical alert for special treatments and medications. Hepatitis C transmission can be accomplished through sexual activity, but not orally unless there are open sores on these areas of the body.
You can also contract hepatitis C from the accidental or intentional sharing of needles, such as with health care worker poking accidents and drug use. Hepatitis C transmission can also occur with blood transfusions, though the screening and detection processes will of allow for this type of mistake to be made today. A large percentage of the chronic, long term cases of this disease have been traced back to a time when blood transfusions were not regulated or picked through as carefully as they are these days.