How did I get Hepatitis C???

I've never done drugs, I don't have any tattoos, I don't think I know anyone with Hep C....

Could the doctor of made a mistake when he was testing my blood?

Hep C is called a silent disease because so many (like about 4 million) in this country alone, have it and don't know it. It is a blood to blood disease, and can be passed by using an infected persons personal hygine items, such as combs, brushes, toothbrushes, nail clippers. There must be infected blood on these items, and you must have some sort of open wound on your body where these things would be used for the infected blood to enter your blood stream. Hep C is RARELY transmitted by sexual intercourse. For it to happen there would have to sex rough enough for both partners to have bleeding. Or an infected woman can infect a man if they have sex and there is any menstrual blood present that enters some sort of wound on the mans penis. Being in a fist fight where blood is exchanged can also spread Hep C. It can also be spread by getting tattoos or piercings with infected equipment. An infected woman has about a 20% chance of passing it to a child. You CANNOT get Hep C by shaking hands or kissing someone with the disease. The virus can live outside the body up to 5 days, (and new research shows it may be able to live up to 7 days in good conditions) so you may have come into contact with infected blood almost anywhere. No matter how you got it, it is not the end of the world. If your liver is in good shape and you take care of it by not drinking alcohol or doing hard drugs, you can live an otherwise long, normal, healthy life. You do not have to take treatment unless you want to. The treatment is not a cure anyhow. It only lowers the viral load to 0 (with a successful treatment). Hep C can reappear if you have a serious illness or severe depression. You will have to be careful not to let your blood come into contact with others. Full strength bleach is the only thing so far that can actually kill the virus on hard surfaces. And some of that research is still going on, because in some instances, bleach did not kill it. Just take care of yourself, eat a good diet (which we all should anyhow). There are no alternative cures like you will hear about. Herbal cures are lies and can actually hurt your liver more. My husband and I have been through all of this. He did Chinese herbs and acupuncture, you name it. His doctor told him that he could have damaged his liver more. He has had it for a little over 40 years. He decided to take treatment to heal his liver, so it can do it's job better. He has been on it since March. We have been to a lot of Hepatitis educational classes (teaches about all types of Hepatitis) and go every month and also go to group sessions every month. If you have Hep C, you should have the vaccines for both Hep A and B. I would wait for about 6 months and then get retested. Out of 100 of those infected with Hep C, 15 of them only develop the acute version of the disease. The body actually clears up acute Hep C by itself in several months. The other 85 develop the chronic version of Hep C , which is permanent. I hope I helped you some.

Hepatitis C is transmissible by blood... As such, sex, IV drug use, and all those other things can spell infection. Health care workers are also at risk because they work with sick people, needles and sharps, and biological waste.

There is always the possibility that there was a mistake in either the testing or the interpretation of the lab results. Mistakes in testing include wrong sample labeling, wrong sample results, or cross-contamination. The use of advanced and automated systems have reduced the occurrence of these mistakes, but they're still possible. Mistakes in the interpretation include not knowing what a negative versus a positive result is, or even something as simple as placing the wrong piece of paper in the wrong file.

As a patient, you have the right to request second opinions or follow up testing. Many tests, like those for Hep C, have what we call "confirmatory" testing, which includes tests that not only look for antibodies (which show exposure) but tests that look for the virus particles themselves.

I advise you to talk to your provider and request follow up testing, or a second opinion from one of his or her colleagues. Hep C virus infection doesn't happen from nothing, but we are also likely to forget a potential exposure. Best of luck.

*It doesn't hurt to go ahead and ask for a Hep B vaccine even if it turns out you don't have Hep C. It's cheap, safe, and will help you avoid liver disease should you have Hep C.

Hepatitis C is spread almost exclusively through infected blood, but on very rare occasions it is transmitted through other body fluids. Most people with Hepatitis C don't know they have it, so there is no way to know if you have been in contact with someone who has hepatitis C. Its even possible that you contracted it at birth from your mother.

It would be a good idea to get retested - preferably at a different lab to see if you have a false positive test. False positive tests are not a rare occurrence. The CDC recommends following up with supplemental tests that use a different technique.

there are 'false positives' try another blood test but read the risk factors below. Have you ever had a blood transfusion before 1992 ? Do you know that in Las Vegas the doctors infected tens if not hundreds of people at a colonoscopy center?

RISK FACTORS
You may have been exposed to Hepatitis C and should get tested if you have :

- Received blood, blood products and/or organs prior to 1992
- Shared items to inject or snort drugs
- Received kidney dialysis treatment
- Born to a hepatitis C positive mother
- Needle stick exposure
- Contaminated tattoo needles and ink, body piercing equipment
- Had sexual activity that involves contact with blood
- Veterans (especially Vietnam War Veterans- 65%)
- Shared personal care items with an infected person (toothbrushes, razors, etc.)

HCV Advocate and 2yr SVR

it's probably from your parents, or from someone that has it and didn't tell you.