World Hepatitis Day July 28
Hepatitis C may be transmitted through sex with an infected person / sharing personal items contaminated with infectious blood. But this is less common.
Hepatitis C is not spread through breast milk / food /water or by casual contact such as hugging, kissing & sharing food / drinks with an infected person.
The gestation period for hepatitis C is two weeks to six months.
Following initial infection, approximately 80 per cent of people do not exhibit any symptoms. Those people who are acutely symptomatic may exhibit fever, fatigue, decreased appetite, nausea, vomiting, abdominal pain, dark urine, grey coloured faeces, joint pain & jaundice (yellowing of skin & the whites of the eyes).
Nearly 75 to 85 per cent of newly infected persons develop chronic disease and 60 to 70% of chronically infected people develop chronic liver disease; 5 to 20% develop cirrhosis and 1 to 5% die from cirrhosis or liver cancer.
In 25% of liver cancer patients, the underlying cause is hepatitis C.
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