Hepatitis C.. What are the symptoms

Hepatitis C is an infectious liver disease that can lead to cirrhosis and liver failure and liver cancer. While early diagnosis can prevent liver damage hepatitis C can be fatal if left untreated.

Hepatitis C virus (HCV) causes hepatitis C. It invades liver cells causing inflammation swelling dysfunction and eventual organ damage.

Hepatitis is the most common blood-borne viral infection in the United States affecting approximately 2.4 million people. However many infected people do not know they have it.

A person can spread the virus to others through blood contact. According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC)Trusted Source most new cases of hepatitis C occur as a result of contact with used needles or other equipment that people use to prepare or inject medicines. This is Often from accidental contact in shared needles or healthcare facilities.

Hepatitis C infection can be acute (short-term) or chronic (long-term). When a person has acute hepatitis symptoms it can last for 6 months. However in more than 50% of cases an 

acute infection becomes a chronic infection which means the body is unable to clear the virus.

A new drug could cure chronic hepatitis C an infection that could become rare in the United States by 2036 some researchers believe. Although there is no vaccine to prevent hepatitis C there are steps people can take to reduce their risk of infection.

This article provides an overview of acute and chronic hepatitis C including causes of symptoms and treatment.

Symptoms

Hepatitis C can range from mild illness lasting several weeks to serious chronic health conditions.

People can have hepatitis C without symptoms especially in the acute phase and may not know they have it. This makes it easier to transmit to others.

Acute hepatitis C

Most people with acute hepatitis C do not experience symptoms. If they do develop symptoms it usually occurs between 2 and 12 weeks post-exposureTrusted Source .

People rarely receive a diagnosis of acute hepatitis C because it lacks clear symptoms.

 For this reason doctors often refer to hepatitis C as a silent epidemic.

Acute symptoms are very similar to other viral infections. Symptoms of acute hepatitis C include:

• a fever
• fatigue
• abdominal pain
• loss of appetite
• nausea or vomiting
• dark urine
• clay-colored stool
• joint pain
• jaundice, rarely

According to the CDC almost half of people with acute hepatitis C clear the virus from their bodies without treatment and do not develop chronic disease.

 Researchers don't know why this happens to some people but not others.

Chronic hepatitis C

Hepatitis C becomes chronic when the body is unable to clear the virus. In most cases chronic hepatitis C causes no symptoms or causes general symptoms such as chronic fatigue or depression. 

A person may only find out they have the condition during routine blood tests or blood screenings Donate.

Early diagnosis and treatment can prevent liver damage. Untreated chronic hepatitis C can cause:

• Chronic liver disease which can develop slowly over decades without any symptoms
• cirrhosis, or liver scarring
• liver failure
• liver cancer.