What is hepatitis C?

"Hepatitis C" is an abbreviation. Its medical name is "hepatitis C". People are infected with hepatitis C virus (HCV), which causes a disease, mostly chronic. Compared with the well-known hepatitis B virus (HBV), the awareness rate of hepatitis C is relatively low. In terms of medicine, hepatitis C is a disease which is more likely to cause cirrhosis than hepatitis B.

The transmission route of hepatitis C virus is hidden. Therefore, people with the following high-risk behaviors should be the key screening object of hepatitis C. in particular, it should be emphasized that even if there are no obvious symptoms, these personnel should timely and actively go to medical institutions for hepatitis C related examination (unfortunately, only about 10% of the newly diagnosed hepatitis C cases in China are found after the patients take the initiative to the hospital for examination).

1. Those who have a history of blood transfusion or transfusion of blood products, especially before the mid-1990s, including whole blood, fresh plasma or lyophilized plasma and other blood components;

2. Long term hemodialysis patients;

3. Those who have donated blood in informal blood stations, especially those who have been transfused with red blood cells after apheresis of plasma or other blood components in informal blood stations;

4. Intravenous drug addicts;

5. Multiple sexual partners;

6. Those who have performed surgery or other invasive examination and treatment in informal medical institutions without health conditions, such as dental treatment - tooth extraction, tooth washing, tattoo, ear piercing, etc;

7. Medical personnel who are accidentally injured during the diagnosis and treatment of patients with hepatitis C.

When hepatitis C virus enters the human body, the incubation period in the human body can reach up to 20 weeks. Due to the long incubation period of hepatitis C and the slow development of the disease, 80% of patients with acute hepatitis C have no obvious symptoms, and more than 70% of new cases are completely asymptomatic. Other data show that 50% to 85% of patients with acute hepatitis C evolve into chronic hepatitis C, and these symptoms will disappear after 20 or 30 years Patients with chronic hepatitis C will quietly develop into liver cirrhosis and even liver cancer. Therefore, it is often ignored. Many patients are found during physical examination or treatment of other diseases. Even some patients find out when they see a doctor for advanced liver cirrhosis or liver cancer and miss the best treatment period.