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National Center for HIV, STD and TB PreventionDivisions of HIV/AIDS Prevention |
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†"Chronic" means having the disease for a long time.
Other Ways of Becoming Infected with HCV There are other ways of becoming infected with HCV. Persons with hemophilia who received clotting factor concentrates before 1987 commonly have HCV infection. Becoming infected through sexual contact is possible, but the risk is much lower than the risk for HIV. Mothers can pass the infection to their newborn babies, but here too the risk is less than that for HIV. The best way to prevent infection with HCV is to stop injecting drugs or never to start. Substance abuse programs may help. If you continue to inject drugs, always use new, sterile syringes and never reuse or share syringes, needles, water or drug preparation equipment. Do not share toothbrushes, razors and other items that might be contaminated with blood. Tattooing or body piercing may also put you at increased risk for infection with any bloodborne pathogen if dirty needles or other instruments are used. Practice safer sex. During a liver biopsy, a tiny piece of your liver is removed through a needle. The tiny piece (or specimen) is then checked for amount of liver damage. Alpha interferon or pegylated interferon alone, or one of these in combination with ribavirin are the drugs given to patients with chronic hepatitis C who are at greatest risk for progression to serious disease. Treatment is not always successful, but even HIV-infected patients may benefit from treatment. Your doctor or other health care provider will need to make the final decision about if and when you should receive treatment. For more information...
Internet Resources: Division of HIV/AIDS Prevention, CDC: www.cdc.gov/hiv Division of Viral Hepatitis, CDC: www.cdc.gov/hepatitis National Institutes of Health: www.niddk.nih.gov/health/digest/pubs/chrnhepc/chrnhepc.htm CDC National Prevention Information Network: www.cdcnpin.org
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Injecting
drugs
is one of the main ways people
become infected with HIV. It is also the 
HCV
infection is more serious in
HIV-infected persons.* It leads to liver damage more quickly. Coinfection with
HCV may also affect the treatment of HIV infection. Therefore, it’s important
for HIV-infected persons to know whether they are also infected with HCV and, if
they aren’t, to take steps to 
Many
people with hepatitis C
don’t have any symptoms of the
disease. So your doctor or other health care provider will have to test your
blood to check for the virus. If you test positive, he or she may also do a 
Chronic†
hepatitis C can be treated
successfully, even in HIV-infected
persons.