What You Should know/Your Health
If you have undergone a surgical procedure at Exeter Hospital, New Hampshire during the relevant time period, you should promptly consult your physician to arrange screening for Hepatitis C.
Definition
Hepatitis C is an infection caused by a virus that attacks the liver and leads to inflammation. Most people infected with the Hepatitis C virus (HCV) have no symptoms. In fact, most people don’t know they have the hepatitis C infection until liver damage shows up, decades later, during routine medical tests.
Hepatitis C is one of several hepatitis viruses and is generally considered to be among the most serious of these viruses. Hepatitis C is passed through contact with contaminated blood — most commonly through needles shared during illegal drug use.
Symptoms
Hepatitis C infection usually produces no signs or symptoms during its earliest stages. When signs and symptoms do occur, they’re generally mild and flu-like and may include:
Fatigue
Fever
Nausea or poor appetite
Muscle and joint pains
Tenderness in the area of your liver
Causes
Hepatitis C infection is caused by the hepatitis C virus (HCV). HCV is spread when you come in contact with contaminated blood.
Examples of how HCV can be spread include:
Shared needles. HCV can also spread through sharing contaminated needles when injecting drugs.
Childbirth. A small number of babies born to mothers with hepatitis C acquire the infection during childbirth.
Sexual contact. In rare cases, HCV may be transmitted sexually.
Complications
Hepatitis C infection that continues over many years can cause significant complications, such as:
Scarring of the liver tissue (cirrhosis).
After 20 to 30 years of hepatitis C infection, cirrhosis may occur. Scarring in your liver makes it difficult for your liver to function.
Liver cancer.
A small number of people with hepatitis C infection may develop liver cancer.
Liver failure.
A liver that is severely damaged by hepatitis C may be unable to function.
As many as 1,175 surgical patients at Exeter Hospital could have been exposed to the liver-crushing disease.