If a person contracts hepatitis C.?...?

Question

is there a way to tell without being tested?

how can it be contracted? sharing needles, and other equipment, and what about kissing?

Answer 1

Only way to tell is through blood test.
Most commonly hepatitis C is contracted via sharing needles (50 times increased risk), blood transfusion with hepatitis C tainted blood products (10 times increased risk)
Sexual transmission is relatively rare, 5 times increased risk if have sex with IV drug user (unless you're Pamela Anderson)
Mother to baby transmission is 5% if mother has Hepatitis C
Being in jail, having ears or body parts pierced, being cut with blood object - 2 times increased risk

Answer 2

not at all. Hepatitis C is a slow long disease. It sometimes can take someone up to 10 years to experience any sort of symptoms and the most common symptom is problems with your liver obviously because that is what the disease attacks. My husband had it and the only reason he found out is because he had health problems and the main problem was, was that his liver levels in his blood work never went back to a normal level. The best thing to do is get checked asap, because there are medications out there that will cure certain types of hepatitis c and the ones that are not cureable the drugs can slow the process of the it. I also want to let you know that hepatitis is a very serious disease, and does not have many symptoms until it is too late and you end up needing a liver transplant or dieing. I know a lot more than this and I would be willing to answer any of your questions if you have concerns email me if you feel comfortable, [e-mail]

Answer 3

You DO need a test to see if you actually have Hep C. My son works at a clinic, and a patient accidentally plopped a bag of used needles into his hand, poking him with one of the needles. My son had no idea she HAD needles with her, of course. He was rushed to E.R. for immediate tests and shots, by the clinic. Still, he must be tested every 3 months of so, to see if it shows up, YET. (The patient has HepC 1A, the worst type). All my adult son can do is to wait and to be tested, again and again.

Answer 4

The only way to know is by testing. It is unlikely to be contracted through kissing

Answer 5

possible symtpoms to look for in acute (recent exposure to infected blood) are flu like symptoms. doctor may insist it's mono as well. (usually due to extreme fatigue/lethargy).
upper right quadrant pain and last but not least, gall bladder disease is a sign something is wrong with the liver.

however, there is no sure fire way unless they test for antibodies and if found positive then they need to do additional testing.

hcv is blood borne. hcv is not spread through semen, vaginal fluid, tears, saliva or mucus as hcv corpuscles are not transmittable. hcv is blood to blood infectious only!

good luck!

Answer 6

you must be tested-you may see plenty of signs that appear
you have Hep-C but there's no + unless you get tested for that and Hiv. They have shots they can give you now that help to
boost your immune system. they have also lately been talking
about possibly a cure-Thank God wouldn't that be great?
go to a free clinic or Doctor though. this is where you can go to
see more about it.I think it is www.cdc.gov, I think-Good Luck to any one who has it. Let's all hope they do find a cure!!!

Answer 7

if you or someone you know thinks they may have it they NEED to be tested as soon as possible....do not put this off.