What is Viral Hepatitis?

In the United States there are three main types of viral hepatitis: Hepatitis A, B and C. There are other types of viral hepatitis, but these are the types of viral hepatitis that are common in the US.

What is Hepatitis C?

Hepatitis C (HCV) is a virus that attacks the liver. HCV is one of the most common types of viral hepatitis in the US. HCV can cause inflamation of the liver which can lead to scarring called fibrosis which is staged from zero to 3. As the scarring from fibrosis becomes more severe (stage 4) it is called cirrhosis.

How do you get Hepatitis C?

Hepatitis C is found in the blood. It is spread when the blood of an infected person get into the bloodstream of another.

You should get test for Hepatitis C if you have ever…

• Received a blood transfusion or organ transplant before 1992

• Used a needle to inject steroids, meth or heroine

• Had long term kidney dialysis

• Are a healthcare, emergency medical or public safety worker exposed to needle sticks and sharp objects

• Were born to a mother who had hepatitis C

• Received tattoos or piercings in an non-professional environment

• Are a military veteran or reservist and have been in a situation where you were exposed to someone else’s blood through contact with a bleeding wound, through a needle stick injury, fighting or in some other way

• Have had an abnormal liver function test (LFT)

There is no vaccine for HCV, but there are effective treatments that can cure someone with HCV in over 50% of the people who complete treatment.

What is Hepatitis B?

As with HCV, Hepatitis B (HBV) is a virus that attacks the liver and can lead to inflamation of the liver. If not controlled, the inflamation can lead to fibrosis, cirrhosis and in some cases liver cancer.

In addition to being a blood-borne virus, HBV can also be transmitted through sexual contact. HBV can also be transmitted from mother to child at birth. If a person is exposed to HBV as an adult there is a 95% probability that the person's immune system will fight off the infection, ridding the body of the hepatitis completely. However, if infected as an infant or child, when the immune system is not yet fully developed, that child can develop chronic HBV and will need to be monitored frequently.

HBV is vaccine preventable and once someone has had HBV and cleared the virus they develop immunity and cannot become infected again.

What is hepatitis A?

Hepatitis A (HAV) is a virus that also attacks the liver. Unlike, HCV and HBV, HAV is an acute liver infection, lasting from a few weeks to several months. HAV never leads to a chronic infection.

HAV is transmitted through the ingestion of fecal matter (even in microscopic amounts) from a person infected with HAV. This usually happens when people infected with HAV do not wash their hands thoroughly after using the bathroom. HAV is vaccine preventable and once someone has had HAV, they develop immunity and cannot become infected a second time.

For more information on viral hepatitis and related conditions, please visit www.hcvadvocate.org or www.cdc.gov/hepatitis/index.htm

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