How is hepatitis C transmitted and how does it manifest itself when human blood is damaged?
Hepatitis C is an infectious liver disease, the causative agent is the hepatitis C virus that parasitizes in the liver cells. In recent years, the incidence of form C has increased, affecting young people aged 20-40 years. According to statistics, in 80% of all infected patients with hepatitis C, the virus remains in the blood for the rest of life, the remaining 20% - passes by itself.
Transmission routes of hepatitis C
There is an opinion that it is possible to become infected only through sexual contact. This is partly true, but it is necessary to know all the options how hepatitis C is transmitted. The main way of transmission of infection is hematogenous, that is, infection occurs if the hepatitis C virus enters the blood.
Methods of transmission of the virus through the blood:
- If used disposable syringes, needles, cotton wool.
- If a healthy person uses toothbrushes, a razor or manicure scissors of a sick person.
- If a tattoo or piercing is produced by tools that are poorly processed and left by the virus from a sick person.
- If medical procedures are performed with poorly sterilized instruments.
- If there was direct contact of a healthy person with a patient through the blood( for example, with blood transfusion).This is a rare case, since, starting in 1999, all donor blood is inspected for the presence of the hepatitis C virus before administration.
How is this disease transmitted if all of the listed options were not available? Infection can occur during sexual contact, but the condition for this should be contact with the blood. In studying this issue, groups of people with a high and least risk of transmission of the C virus through sexual transmission were identified.
The high-risk group includes people who lead a promiscuous sex life and often change partners, as well as those who are not protected by a condom during sexual intercourse. In other words, they are mostly prostitutes and homosexuals. And, conversely, the group of the least risk included people who have a regular sexual partner and stable sexual contacts with him.
Sexually transmitted hepatitis C, if on the genitals during intercourse there are microcracks and abrasions.
Different countries and continents have different sexually transmitted infections with hepatitis C.Genital ways of infection with hepatitis C are the smallest in North America and Western Europe, and the largest in South America, Africa, and the highest in South-East Asia.
How can I get this disease during pregnancy and childbirth, and what should I do if a pregnant woman has a virus? The risk of contracting a child during labor is small, only 5%, since the virus is unable to penetrate the utero-placental barrier.
Infection occurs mainly when passing through the birth canal and contact the baby with the blood of the mother. The risk of infection for a child is increased if, during childbirth, the integrity of the baby's skin has been impaired( for example, using obstetric forceps).But at the same time, with a caesarean section, the risk of infection for a child is reduced. Half of these children are cured independently, and the condition for such an outcome of the disease is breastfeeding.
The question often arises, are there any ways of getting infected while breastfeeding? There are no data on this subject, but in case there are cracks and traumas of the nipple, it is better to cancel the feeding.
Hepatitis C is transmitted through a kiss, if during the kiss the integrity of the mucosa walls was compromised. In the study, the virus was found in saliva, which means that there is a high probability of such a route of infection. Those who have gum disease( stomatitis, gingivitis, periodontitis) are at risk.
In addition to the described methods, there are rare ways of infection with hepatitis C, they include contamination of participants in the fight, if during the fight the integrity of the skin was broken, and in the fight itself the infected person participated. Infection occurs when abrasions, injuries, cuts.
Recently there is an opinion that the hepatitis C virus can be infected in everyday life, when using kitchen appliances. How the infection occurs, we have already described, and if a person drinks from a cup that was used by a carrier of hepatitis C, then theoretically such a path of infection is possible. Again, this requires that the patient has bleeding gums. Fortunately, if you follow the rules of personal hygiene and do not use other people's utensils, the risk of infection is minimal.
Infection does not occur by airborne droplets( by sneezing, talking), and it is also impossible to get infected with a handshake and hugs, during lunch from common utensils.
Risk groups
There are people who belong to certain groups at risk of contracting hepatitis C. In epidemiology there is the concept of high, medium and low risk. To the highest degree belong:
- Drug addicts who inject drugs.
- People who received blood donation before 1999.
The average risk includes:
- Patients on hemodialysis.
- Children born to sick mothers.
- People with transplanted organs.
To low or low risk include:
- Medical workers. Prostitutes and homosexuals.
- People who have a single sex partner with viral hepatitis C.
People at risk should donate blood for viral hepatitis C and undergo a complete clinical examination.
Symptoms of viral hepatitis C
The incubation period of hepatitis C is generally 50-60 days, but the incubation period can last from 20 to 140 days. The first signs and symptoms of the disease appear after the end of the incubation period. During this time, the virus is able to adapt in a new environment for it and begin to multiply actively.
A distinctive feature of this disease is that with this form of disease there is a so-called passive virus or inactive hepatitis C. This means that the majority of clinical cases occur without symptoms, with active destruction of liver cells.
Symptoms that may occur with acute hepatitis C are reduced to general malaise, weakness, stool disorder, decreased appetite, nausea, and sometimes joint pain may occur. The change in the color of the skin and the sclera for hepatitis C is uncharacteristic.
The biggest danger is that inactive hepatitis C can go from an acute phase to a chronic one, with all the consequences that follow. Chronic hepatitis C, usually in 80% of cases ends with cirrhosis or liver cancer. If there is an infection with some other hepatitis virus, this combination is extremely unfavorable for the patient, and ends with a fatal outcome.
Patients should not live in isolation from society and family, and such patients do not need special care or maintenance( children and elderly people).At work, in the family or in society, they should be treated the same way as healthy people, since these people do not pose a potential danger to others. But from the service in the army, patients with hepatitis C are not released for social reasons, but for medical reasons.