Updated on March 27, 2024.
Hepatitis C is a viral infection that causes inflammation in the liver. The majority of people infected will develop a chronic, long-term infection, which will not resolve without treatment. Most of those with chronic hepatitis C don’t have noticeable symptoms and may not know they’re infected.
A chronic infection can cause serious complications, including cirrhosis, a scarring and hardening of the liver that disrupts normal function. Liver cancer and liver failure are other potential issues related to hepatitis C.
Who should be tested for hepatitis C?
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) recommends that all adults in the United States over the age of 18 be screened at least once during their lives, and that all pregnant people be screened during each pregnancy. They also recommend one-time testing for anyone who may have risk factors, which include:
- Having HIV
- Using injected drugs at any point in the past or present
- Recipients of transfusions or organ transplants
- Exposure to infected blood in the course of job duties
- Being born to a mother with hepatitis C
Routine or additional testing is also recommended for anyone who currently uses or shares needles or other drug equipment, and for people who’ve received maintenance hemodialysis (treatment for advaced kidney disease or kidney failure).
Recommendations have changed over the years
In the past, testing recommendations were more limited and focused especially on baby boomers, or people born between 1945 and 1965. This is because hepatitis C rates were highest when boomers were youths and young adults, in the 1970s and 1980s. What’s more, blood testing for hepatitis C only began in 1992.
Due in large part to the opioid epidemic, however, younger generations are now more at risk for infection than in years past. Millennials, born between 1981 and 1996, made up the biggest percentage of newly reported infections in 2018.
Hepatitis C infections are also increasingly common in the United States. The number of new cases has more than tripled over the past decade, and it’s believed that more than 2 million U.S. adults are living with a chronic infection. Hepatitis C can be deadly, as well. About 14,000 deaths related to the disease were reported to the CDC in 2021, and that number is likely lower than the true figure.
How do I get screened for hepatitis C?
Hepatitis C is screened with a blood test and can be arranged by your healthcare provider (HCP). Testing is a two-part process. The first part is an antibody test that looks for the presence of hepatitis C antibodies. If that test is positive, a second test will check for RNA proteins, which will confirm whether the infection is active.
What happens if I have chronic hepatitis C?
Treatments for hepatitis C are very effective. The standard for treatment is a regimen of drugs called direct-acting antivirals (DAAs), which disrupt the virus’ ability to replicate. A typical course of DAAs lasts 8 to 12 weeks, depending on the patient, the hepatitis C genotype, and other factors. The cure rate with these treatments is about 95 percent.
Even if you treat and cure hepatitis C, you may still need to be tested and treated for liver damage. This might include noninvasive imaging and ultrasound tests, blood tests, or a liver biopsy (tiny tissue samples are removed from the liver and examined for signs of damage or disease). Serious cases may ultimately require a liver transplant.
Get tested for hepatitis C now if you’ve never been tested before, even if you don’t think you have risk factors. It will help protect your long-term health.
