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HEPATITIS C
BREAKING THE SILENCE
FINDING THOSE IN NEED OF HELP
Although recent medical advances have made hepatitis C treatment much more effective
– and far less unpleasant – the condition still represents a major public health challenge,
with around half of the UK’s injecting drug users thought to be infected
K
nown as ‘the silent killer’ because a person can live with it for years
There are six major variations of HCV, known as genotypes, with different
without developing symptoms, hepatitis C is a blood-borne virus that
genotypes being more predominant in certain parts of the world and each having
predominantly affects the liver. According to Public Health England’s
minor variations known as ‘subtypes’. Genotypes 1-3 are found worldwide, with 1a
(PHE) most recent update, around 200,000 people in the UK are
and 1b predominating in Europe and North America. 7
chronically infected with the hepatitis C virus (HCV), ‘the majority of
Although it is not known if the genotype affects the progression of the disease,
whom are from marginalised and underserved groups in society.’ 1 It is
it can have an influence on how someone responds to treatment.
also estimated that around half of the people living with the virus are unaware
that they have it.
According to the World Health Organization (WHO), viral hepatitis is now ‘a
major public health problem’ 3 , with the number of people living with hepatitis C
Hepatitis C often displays no noticeable symptoms until the damage to the liver is
worldwide topping 71m. 3 The most common route of infection is through small
significant, and the symptoms that people do experience can often be mistaken
for something else. These include ’flu-like symptoms 6 such as muscle aches and
quantities of blood, which can happen via unsafe medical practices, transfusion of
unscreened blood, sharing items such as razors or toothbrushes, or sharing needles
high temperatures, as well as fatigue, nausea, slight fever, loss of appetite and
or other drug-injecting equipment. There is also a risk of infection via straws or
abdominal pain.
banknotes used to snort drugs such as cocaine, MDMA or amphetamines.
The first stage of HCV infection is the acute stage, which refers to the first six
PHE states that injecting drug use ‘continues to be the biggest risk factor for
months after initial infection. During this stage, the virus will not necessarily
HCV infection’, and in the UK around half of people who inject, or who have
manifest any symptoms and in around 20 per cent of cases the body will
previously injected, drugs will be infected with the virus – a figure that has
naturally clear the virus itself without sustaining any long-term damage. The
‘remained mostly unchanged over the past ten years’.
remaining 80 per cent of people, however, will go on to the second stage, which is
Again, approximately half of these people
will not know they are infected and
according to the latest United Nations Office
Trend in anti-HCV prevalence among people injecting psychoactive drugs
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on Drugs and Crime (UNODC) World drug
in England: 2005 to 2016. 2
report, more than half of the estimated
90
10.6m injecting drug users globally are now
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living with the virus. 4
Hepatitis C causes inflammation and
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damage to the liver and, if left untreated, can
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lead to cirrhosis (scarring) and life-threatening
complications like liver cancer. 5 However, as
50
hepatitis C often doesn’t have any noticeable
symptoms until the liver has been significantly
40
damaged, in many cases people can be living
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with the infection without realising it. 6
STAGES AND SYMPTOMS OF HEPATITIS C
TYPES OF HEPATITIS C
Like the common cold, ’flu and measles,
hepatitis C is an RNA (ribonucleic acid) – as
opposed to a DNA – virus, which means that it
is much harder for the immune system to
locate and destroy.
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2005
2006
2007
2008
2009
2010
2011
2012
2013
2014
2015
2016
Source PHE – Hepatitis C in England 2018 report
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