What Should I Do If I Have Been Exposed to the Hepatitis C Virus?

If you’ve been exposed to hepatitis C you should keep that in mind, as you may not have symptoms. In this video, family physician Sharecare Advisory Board member Daniel Spogen, MD, explains what you should do if you think you were exposed to hep C.

Transcript

00:00

So it's very important that you've been exposed to hepatitis C to kind of keep that in mind. Most likely, you're not gonna have any

00:06

acute symptoms. It takes somewhere around six to eight weeks to have some of those virus particles show up in your blood. So getting

00:16

blood testing right away, probably isn't indicated. It's very important to practice good hygiene in the meanwhile, make sure you don't

00:25

share your toothbrushes with anybody else, that you practice safe sex. It's very important to do that anytime, but it's more important

00:35

in that phase when you're just not quite sure. And so roughly six to eight weeks after exposure then you can start being tested.

00:42

After exposure some people will suggest getting tested in a base line six to eight weeks later, and then in a period of time after

00:50

that because sometimes it takes time for hepatitis C to actually get a foothold, and be able to be detected through testing. So some