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Hepatitis C: What Should You Know About Causes And Risk Factors?

by — Last updated: 2020-03-01 in Lymphatic & Endocrine system

Up to 20 percent of people who develop chronic hepatitis C will eventually succumb to the liver cancer and cirrhosis it can cause. There is no vaccine, so reducing your risk of exposure to infected blood is the best way to protect yourself.

Over 71 million people across the globe suffer from a chronic hepatitis C infection, including somewhere between 2.7 and 3.9 million in the United States alone. Though not all hepatitis C infections become chronic and treatment is available, hep C is a rather serious condition — five to 20 percent of patients go on to develop cirrhosis, while up to five percent eventually die from cirrhosis or liver cancer. 

Hepatitis C is — in short — something you want to do everything in your power to avoid. That all starts with understanding what kind of circumstances and behaviors put you at risk, so let's dive right in. 

What causes hepatitis C?

"Hepatitis" is a general term for inflammation of the liver, an organ with a hell of a lot of important roles ranging from filtering blood to processing nutrients and helping the body battle infections. Hepatitis C is just one of many different members of the hepatitis family, not all of which are viral in nature. 

At its most basic, a hepatitis C infection is caused by exposure to the hepatitis C virus. Since this virus is blood-borne, that requires contact with infected blood. Any path that leads there can in turn cause a hepatitis C infection. "Risk factors" are things that make it more likely for a person to be exposed to hepatitis C, which can cause either an acute and short-lived infection, or a chronic and potentially lifelong one that can have serious consequences, including death. 

Hepatitis C: What puts you at risk?

Chances are that you immediately think "junkie" when you ask yourself what kind of person might become infected with hepatitis C. It is indeed true, research has uncovered, that around 90 percent of hepatitis C cases in developed nations are related to IV drug use — sharing unsterilized syringes and needles is always a bad idea, and a very easy way to end up with hepatitis C. Remember that this doesn't just apply to regular drug abusers; even someone who injected drugs only once, decades ago, could have hep C without knowing it. 

Many roads can lead to exposure, however, and any contact with blood is risky. Some of the things that may put you at risk of hepatitis C include:

  • Being a healthcare worker. Needle-stick injuries, in which a person's skin was pierced with a needle previously used by someone with hepatitis C, are one way to contract the virus — since there is no vaccine to prevent hepatitis C. Doctors, nurses, paramedics, and other healthcare workers are at risk of these kinds of injuries, but it's easy to see how law enforcement officers, correctional officers, firefighters, social workers, and anyone else who interacts with high-risk populations could end up with a needle-stick injury, too. 
  • Getting a tattoo or piercing from a studio with anything other than excellent health and safety standards. The same can apply to cosmetic salons, pedicurist clinics, and in countries with less stringent oversight of medical settings, even dental clinics or hospitals. 
  • Sharing personal care products — like razors or tootbrushes — with someone who has hepatitis C. Other kinds of contact with the blood of an infected person, like while giving first aid, are also risky.
  • In the past, receiving a blood transfusion. Though the risk of getting hepatitis C this way is now very small, it may exist in countries with less strict testing procedures. 
  • Having a mother infected with hepatitis C — the infection can be passed on to an infant during birth. 
  • Sex also poses a small but real risk. 

The scenarios that end with a hepatitis C infection involve infected blood mixing with your own. Someone with bleeding gums and a hepatitis C infection can, for instance, unwittingly leave traces of blood on the toothbrush. If you also have a small open wound in your mouth, one you may be totally unaware of, and then go on to brush your teeth with the same brush, that's a risk. Unprotected sexual relations are a problem for the same reason. Here, there is also a small chance of microlacerations on the part of both partners, which could ultimately expose you to infected blood. 

Since not everyone with hepatitis C is aware they have the virus, as obvious symptoms often don't appear for a very long time, it's safest to treat any blood or risk of exposure to blood with extreme caution. 

What are the risk factors for chronic hepatitis C?

Hepatitis C becomes chronic in somewhere between 75 and 85 percent of all cases, but the body spontaneously fights and eliminates the virus in the remainder of cases. People who are naturally "cured" of hepatitis C without treatment are more likely to be younger, female, test positive for the hepatitis B virus surface antigen, and be infected with the first genotype of hepatitis C. They may also have unique genetic markers. 

Anyone who doesn't have these characteristics is more likely to go on to develop a chronic hepatitis C infection after the acute phase comes to an end. 

The bottom line

Treatment — most often with the medications interferon and ribavirin — is available for chronic hepatitis C, but not everyone across the world will have access to it, and though it is very effective in most cases, it doesn't always clear the virus. No vaccine to prevent hepatitis C exists at the moment. The best way to reduce your risk of hepatitis C is to steer clear of situations and behaviors that put you in the danger zone.

  • Photo courtesy of SteadyHealth

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