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Understanding Hepatitis -- Diagnosis and Treatment
How Do I Know If I Have Hepatitis?
Viral hepatitis, such as hepatitis C (HCV) or hepatitis B (HBV), is diagnosed by your symptoms, your doctor’s exam to look for signs of hepatitis, blood tests to see if you have evidence of a hepatitis virus in your blood, imaging studies such as a sonogram or CAT scan, and often a liver biopsy.
For hepatitis C, the CDC recommends that you have a blood test if any of the following is true:
Understanding Hepatitis C -- the Basics
Hepatitis C is a liver disease caused by an infection with the hepatitis C virus. The liver becomes inflamed and swollen and stops working as it should. Hepatitis C is a serious disease because the liver is needed to remove toxins that build up in the blood. Hepatitis C can destroy the liver and cause cirrhosis. It is the main cause of liver transplants in the world. After being infected with the hepatitis C virus, 55%-85% of people will develop a chronic infection. Once a chronic infection...
Read the Understanding Hepatitis C -- the Basics article > >
- You have been notified that you received blood from a donor who later tested positive for the disease
- You have ever injected drugs, even once many years ago
- You received a blood transfusion or an organ transplant before July 1992
- You received a blood product used to treat clotting problems that was made before 1987
- You have had long-term kidney dialysis
- You have signs or symptoms of liver disease
- You have HIV
- You have a known exposure to HCV (such as health care workers getting stuck by a needle)
Other people who should consider getting tested for HCV include:
- Children born to HCV-positive mothers (check only after 18 months of age to avoid a false positive result)
- Household members of an infected person if toothbrushes, razors, or other objects that may transmit HCV have been shared
- Hospital and other health care facility workers after a needle stick or mucosal exposure to the blood of a person with HCV
- Public safety and emergency medical workers after a needle stick or mucosal exposure to the blood of a person with HCV
- People who have acquired a tattoo or who have had a body part pierced if they suspect unsterile practices
- The sex partner of an HCV-positive person, if traumatic sex or bleeding due to breaks in the skin or other reasons (such as prostatitis -- an inflammation of the prostate gland with occasional bleeding) may have occurred. HCV is generally not transmitted through sexual contact.
The following people who are at increased risk for contracting HBV include:
- People who received a blood or a blood-product transfusion prior to 1975
- Hospital and health care workers
- Household members of an infected person
- Intravenous drugs users (both present and former users)
- People who have had a tattoo or a body part pierced with an infected needle
- Sex partners of infected people
- Travelers to countries where HBV is endemic
- People who were born to a mother infected with HBV
- Transplant-organ recipients who received an infected organ
The following groups of people should be screened for HBV:
- People born in areas where HBV is endemic
- Men who have sex with men
- Intravenous drug users (both present and former users)
- Dialysis patients
- HIV-infected people
- Pregnant women
- Family members, household members, and sex partners of HBV-infected people (even if sex occurred on only one occasion)
- People who have had more than one sex partner within 6 months
Otherwise, routine screening for hepatitis typically is not recommended unless you have symptoms or signs (such as abnormal liver-related blood tests) of the condition.
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