Hepatitis C: It takes just one drop of blood

Hep C may sound like a new vitamin supplement but hepatitis C, to give it its full name, is a serious liver disease than can lie undetected in your body for years. In fact, it's estimated that 4 out of 5 people with the disease don't know they have it. The statistics suggest that it affects twice as many men as women.

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I've heard about hepatitis. What's the big deal with hepatitis C?

It can kill - but unlike hepatitis A and B, there is no vaccine to protect against hepatitis C. Most people who have the hepatitis C virus have no signs or symptoms at all for many years. But even if you have no symptoms, you can still pass the virus on to others.

How many people have Hep C?

It's not clear how many people have hepatitis C in the UK. The Health Protection Agency is currently revising its estimates upwards.

The usually quoted figure of around 200,000 (or 0.5% of the population), is based on studies from the mid-1990s.

The Hepatitis C Trust put the figure at closer to 500,000. They also warn that as many as 200,000 people could die of hepatitis C in the next 20 to 30 years unless diagnosis and treatment in the UK, which it described in September 2005 as the worst in Europe, improves.

So how can you get hepatitis C?

Hepatitis C is carried in the blood. The virus is spread through contact with the blood of a person who has hepatitis C. Common ways include:

• injecting drugs using shared equipment - you only need to have done this once
• receiving a blood transfusion before 1991, or blood products like clotting factors before 1986. (All blood in the UK is now screened for hepatitis C.)
• having sex without a condom with someone who has the virus
• having a tattoo or body piercing with equipment that is not sterile
• receiving medical or dental treatment abroad in countries where hepatitis C is common and where equipment may not be sterilised properly
• sharing a razor or toothbrush with someone who may have hepatitis C.

Hepatitis C can also be passed from a mother with hepatitis C to her baby, before or during the birth.

You can't catch it through everyday contact such as holding hands or hugging and kissing, or sharing toilets, plates and cups and kitchen utensils.

What are the symptoms of Hep C?

The symptoms of Hepatitis C are often difficult to identify. Most people do not have any.

Some people may feel briefly unwell, others more seriously or more often and in rare cases you may become jaundiced (yellowing of the skin and eyes). However, many people with chronic hepatitis C infection will have no symptoms at all.

But if I have no symptoms why should I be worried?

No symptoms does not mean no problem.

About one in four people who become infected with hepatitis C will clear the virus naturally. However, most people who become infected with hepatitis C will eventually develop chronic (long-term) infection. Although some people remain well throughout their life,

• some people develop mild to moderate liver damage
• about one in five people will go on to develop severe liver damage (cirrhosis), over a period of 20 years or more
• in some people, severe liver damage (cirrhosis) can lead to liver cancer or complete liver failure. It can kill.

Is treatment available?

Yes. Treatments for hepatitis C are improving all the time. Currently there is a form of drug therapy available that can cure the infection in about half of the people treated.

What should I do if I'm worried?

Ask your GP to test you for hepatitis C. Local drug agencies and sexual health clinics (sometimes called genito-urinary medicine or GUM clinics) may also offer testing.

For further information visit the NHS's Hepatitis C website or call their hepatitis C information line on 0800 451451 (textphone 0800 0850859). Lines are open 10am-10pm, 7 days a week.

The Hepatitis C Trust also have a helpline which is staffed solely by people with hepatitis C, many of whom have been through/or are currently undergoing treatment. It's on 0870 200 1 200 (12-6 Monday to Friday; call charge at the national rate.) There's also a discussion board on their website.

Photos by Michele Martinoli for the UK government's hepatitis C public awareness campaign. All the people featured have Hep C.