I’m sure many people are familiar with hepatitis A and B, but have you ever heard of hepatitis C? How much do you know about hepatitis C?
Hepatitis C is an infectious disease of body fluids caused by the hepatitis C virus, which mainly affects the liver. Initially, symptoms are mild or even absent. Occasionally, there are symptoms such as fever, yellow urine, abdominal pain and jaundice.
Hepatitis C is more frightening than hepatitis A and B. Hepatitis C is frightening because it can turn into cirrhosis, liver failure and even liver cancer, and because it does not have the obvious symptoms of other hepatitis and can remain latent in the body for many years, so that it is often detected at a serious stage.
Groups at risk for hepatitis C include intravenous drug addicts, people who have had blood and blood products transfusions, mothers with hepatitis C, people on haemodialysis, people who have had sex with people with hepatitis C, people who have had close contact with hepatitis C and people who share personal hygiene items.
There is no vaccine for hepatitis C and the treatment process is arduous, with about 400,000 people in Malaysia infected with the disease.
