Risks and Prevention

Hepatitis C is a ' blood borne virus' which means it is carried in the blood. To become infected, blood from someone who has Hepatitis C would need to get into your blood stream and then make copies of itself. To become infected with hepatitis C three things need to happen - exposure, transmission and establishment of infection.

Exposure

To be of any concern, blood with Hepatitis C would need to get out of the first person's body before it puts anyone at risk. This is called 'exposure'. There are a number of activities that put you at risk of exposure.

Transmission

Being near blood that contains Hepatitis C (exposure) is not enough to infect you. Blood containing the virus needs to actually get into your body. There needs to be an opening in your body (eg. a cut or tear) so that the blood carrying the virus can pass through to get into your blood stream. This is called 'transmission'. There are a number of activities that put you at risk of transmission.

Establishment of Infection

Getting into your body is not enough. Once the virus has got inside your blood stream, it needs to be able to make more and more copies of itself to 'establish a Hepatitis C infection' in your body. The Hepatitis C virus is not always able to establish itself. This seems to vary from person to person and also depends on how much virus enters your body at the start.

People who become infected with Hepatitis C may still be able to get rid of it on their own during the initial stages of infection. Around 1 in 5 people can clear the virus in this way during what is called 'Acute Infection'. The remainder will carry the virus long term in what is called a 'Chronic Infection'.