Details of Hepatitis C

This is a viral infection that causes liver inflammation, sometimes leading to serious liver damage. The hepatitis C virus (HCV) spreads through contaminated blood.

Signs and symptoms include:

• Bleeding easily
• Bruising easily
• Fatigue
• Poor appetite
• Jaundice
• Dark-colored urine
• Itchy skin
• Fluid buildup in your abdomen (ascites)
• Swelling in your legs
• Weight loss
• Confusion, drowsiness and slurred speech (hepatic encephalopathy)
• Spiderlike blood vessels on the skin (spider angiomas)

May include:

• Screening
• Testing for viral load
• Identifying the genotype of the virus
• Magnetic resonance elastography (MRE)
• Transient elastography
• Liver biopsy
• Blood tests

Include:  Antiviral medications  Liver transplantation  Vaccinations

May include:

• Scarring of the liver (cirrhosis)
• Liver cancer
• Liver failure