How dangerous is hepatitis C?

Hepatitis C is an infectious disease caused by the Hepatitis C virus (HCV). Hepatitis C is divided into two phases: acute and chronic. The short period of time, usually 6 months, after viral infection is called the acute phase of the disease. If the virus persists for more than 6 months after infection, you already have chronic hepatitis C.

The World Health Organization estimates that about 170 million people globally have hepatitis C, while HIV has about 40 million. Every year, 3 to 4 million new cases are reported.

Viet Nam has a high number of cases of hepatitis C among developing countries. In 2018, the country recorded about 3 million people infected with hepatitis C virus, of which 75% was chronic hepatitis C; 25% turn into cirrhosis and cancer.

Dr. Vu Dinh Huy, former Head of the Department of Internal Medicine, Hanoi Post Hospital, said that the disease is transmitted through blood and blood products are contaminated with the virus, having unprotected sex causes bleeding damage, transfer from mother to child, using needles is not safe. In addition, the virus can also be transmitted through the instrument during some procedures such as acupuncture, tattooing.

Hepatitis C has a fairly long incubation period, about two months. Most cases of acute hepatitis C have few special symptoms, fatigue, flu-like headache. In some cases, gastrointestinal disturbances such as abdominal pain, loss of appetite, pain in the right lower rib (liver) are accompanied by pain, possibly jaundice, yellowing of the eyes, and dark urine.

People with chronic hepatitis C feel tired, sick, have muscle or joint pain, anxiety, and depression. Most patients have no symptoms. Even asymptomatic states last for many years while the virus continues to multiply in the liver. They cause hepatitis and increase levels of many measurable liver enzymes (AST and ALT) in the blood. As a result, liver damage (called fibrosis) can spread, leading to cirrhosis.

With cirrhosis, the fibrous tissue invades normal liver tissue, damaging liver functions such as digestion and detoxification. If left untreated, cirrhosis can lead to serious complications and liver cancer.

Patients with hepatitis C have different progression times and cannot be accurately predicted. Many people change little after 20-30 years, while many people develop cirrhosis after 10 years or less. Factors that can make the disease progress faster include age, diet, smoking, diabetes, hepatitis B virus (HBV) co-infection or HIV.

In addition to affecting liver function, causing cirrhosis, liver cancer, the hepatitis C virus also affects other parts of the body. Disease in the stage of cirrhosis can reduce platelets leading to easy bleeding, leukopenia, so it is easy to infection.

When infected with hepatitis C virus, the body forms antibodies to fight it. It is this antibody that produces reactions that affect other organs of the body such as kidneys, nerve damage, joint pain, redness, and ulcers. Hepatitis C also increases your risk of developing other diseases including diabetes, depression, etc.

Dr Huy said that treatment for hepatitis C is mainly oral, not injectable, highly effective and has few side effects, and the cost is moderate.

In the acute phase, the patient is able to repair itself if the body produces enough antibodies against the virus. However, "these are not many cases". Doctors recommend screening tests to detect and cure completely.

If the disease has progressed to cirrhosis, diet according to the doctor's instructions, mainly use easy-to-digest proteins such as tofu, soybeans, limit salt, abstain from alcohol.

The disease has no preventive vaccine. Reduce your risk of getting hepatitis C by not sharing needles, toothbrushes, razors, nail clippers ... or anything that might have blood on them. Piercing, tattooing, acupuncture ... should be done at reputable establishments with sterile tools.

Having safe sex, using condoms and cleaning sex tools. Before becoming pregnant, you should go to the hospital to check for chronic hepatitis C or not to treat it before becoming pregnant.

On the afternoon of October 5, the Nobel Prize for Biomedical Sciences 2020 was awarded to three American and British scientists, due to their achievements in detecting the hepatitis C virus. This finding creates a premise for the creation of blood test kits for anti-drug viruses. virus, contributing to saving millions of lives.

Thuy Quynh

Source: https://vnexpress.net/viem-gan-c-nguy-hiem-the-nao-4172189.html