In our daily life, when we talk about hepatitis, we usually refer to hepatitis B, and many people say that China is a [big country with hepatitis B]. But what we don’t know is that there are actually five types of viral hepatitis: hepatitis a, B, C, D and E.
Hepatitis C is what?
At present, hepatitis C is also a widespread infectious disease and has become a serious social and public health problem. According to the statistics of the World Health Organization (WHO), the global infection rate of hepatitis C is about 3%, and the number of people dying of hepatitis C every year is as high as 350,000.
Hepatitis C is an infectious disease caused by hepatitis C virus (HCV). The infectivity of hepatitis C virus is slightly weaker than that of hepatitis B. However, hepatitis caused by hepatitis C virus is more likely to develop into chronic hepatitis. About 50% ~ 80% of infected persons will develop chronic hepatitis C. When complicated with hepatitis B virus infection, liver cirrhosis is more likely to occur.
Is what different from hepatitis B?
1. No vaccine:
Due to the difference in nature with hepatitis B virus, so far, there is no vaccine as effective as hepatitis B vaccine that can prevent the spread of hepatitis C virus.
2. Symptoms are mild:
Many hepatitis C virus carriers have no obvious symptoms and the public does not know much about the transmission route of hepatitis C, which has aggravated the current epidemic trend of hepatitis C.
3. Mainly sexual transmission:
Understanding the transmission route of hepatitis C is very important to prevent the epidemic of hepatitis C.
The transmission routes of hepatitis C are as follows:
- Use non-disposable syringes and medical devices without strict disinfection. In some areas, HCV transmission caused by intravenous drug injection accounts for 60% ~ 90%. Disinfection of irregular tattoos, ear holes and other invasive operations; Mother-to-child transmission, HCV RNA positive mothers, transmission rate to newborns is about 4% ~ 7%; Skin and mucous membrane damage exists when razors or toothbrushes and other daily necessities are shared; Bleeding during sexual life may also spread hepatitis C virus, so menstrual sex, anal sex and other sexual behaviors are more likely to lead to the spread of hepatitis C virus; In addition, people with multiple sexual partners will increase the risk of infection if they engage in unprotected sexual contact.
Blood transfusion and transmission of blood products used to be the main routes of transmission, However, with the improvement of screening methods, the transmission of this method has been obviously controlled. However, because there is a window period for hepatitis C virus (it takes 6-8 weeks to detect whether hepatitis C virus is infected by existing detection methods after HCV infection), repeated blood transfusions are still high-risk groups for hepatitis C virus infection.
It should be noted that AIDS patients are more vulnerable to hepatitis C virus than ordinary people. According to statistics of the Center for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), about 25% of AIDS patients are also HCV carriers.
For healthy people, some daily contacts, such as eating together, sharing tableware, talking, shaking hands and hugging, will not infect hepatitis C.
If the carrier of hepatitis C virus carelessly coughs or sneezes during the conversation, there is no need to worry about transmitting hepatitis C virus to others. Saliva cannot transmit hepatitis C virus, and even close contact such as kissing will basically not transmit hepatitis C.
Only by mastering the transmission law of HCV can we better prevent hepatitis C!
Responsible Editor: Zhang Jingyuan
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