Hepatitis C

Understanding Hepatitis C

Cause

Hepatitis C is contagious. It is spread through contact with infected blood.

Symptoms

You may carry hepatitis C and not show any symptoms for 20 to 30 years. Some people experience flu-like symptoms a few weeks after their initial infection. Most do not show symptoms. In fact, you may feel fine until liver problems develop. When they do, your symptoms may include:

• Fatigue
• Jaundice from liver failure
• Muscle and joint pain

Diagnosis

Recommendations from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention suggest that all persons over the age of 18 (and those under age 18 with risk factors) get screened for hepatitis C at least once in their life and more often for those who are high-risk. Two-thirds of people who have the disease do not know it. Waiting until symptoms appear can result in serious damage to your liver. These damages can include cirrhosis and the need for a liver transplant.

Your provider may recommend blood tests to detect hepatitis C antibodies and check your liver function if you have never been screened for hepatitis C.

Treatment

You will receive treatment from one of the most innovative hepatitis C programs in the Midwest. Our partnership with IU with the IU School of Medicine and the Division of Gastroenterology/Hepatology gives you access to the latest research.

In many cases, new liver scanning techniques and medicines will offer high cure rates. These also offer a significantly shorter period of waiting time and remove the need for an invasive liver biopsy. Treatment and cure of hep C is easy, cheap, well-tolerated, and with excellent response rates with daily medication compliance for 2-3 months.

We use noninvasive tests (NITs) and well-tolerated medicines that can cure the disease and preserve your liver function. This can include:

Medicines

New medicines with cure rates near 100% can treat hepatitis C within two to three months. Many of them went through clinical trials at IU Health.

While expensive, we receive foundation grants and access specialty pharmacies to keep your costs low. The medication to treat and cure hepatitis C is well tolerated and an oral, daily pill.

FibroScan

This new technology lets your provider scan your liver without the need for a biopsy. The scan will check for stiffness, scarring and fatty deposits. The scan provides information your provider can use to create a treatment plan. The plan's goal will be to cure hep C infection and thus reduce and stop inflammation and scarring in your liver.

Transplant

If hepatitis C has already caused decompensated cirrhosis and/or primary liver cancer (hepatocellular carcinoma or HCC), a liver transplant may be necessary. IU Health provides liver transplants and has one of the busiest transplant centers in the U.S. with among the shortest wait times.