hiv

HIV stands for human immunodeficiency virus. HIV harms your immune system by destroying a type of white blood cell that helps your body fight infection. This puts you at risk for other infections and diseases.

AIDS stands for acquired immunodeficiency syndrome. It is the final stage of infection with HIV. It happens when the body's immune system is badly damaged because of the virus. Not everyone with HIV develops AIDS.

HIV is spread through certain body fluids from a person who has HIV. This can happen:

• By having unprotected vaginal or anal sex with a person who has HIV. "Unprotected" means not using condoms or medicine to treat or prevent HIV. This is the most common way that it spreads.
• By sharing drug needles.
• Through contact with the blood of a person with HIV.
• From mother to baby during pregnancy, childbirth, or breastfeeding.

Anyone can get HIV, but certain groups have a higher risk of getting it:

• People who have another sexually transmitted disease (STD). Having an STD can increase your risk of getting or spreading HIV.
• People who inject drugs with shared needles.
• Gay and bisexual men.
• Black/African Americans and Hispanic/Latino Americans. They make up a higher proportion of new HIV diagnoses and people with HIV, compared to other races and ethnicities.
• People who engage in risky sexual behaviors, such as not using condoms or medicine to prevent or treat HIV.

Factors such as stigma, discrimination, income, education, and geographic region can also affect people's risk for HIV.

The first signs of HIV infection may be flu-like symptoms:

• Fever
• Chills
• Rash
• Night sweats (heavy sweating during sleep)
• Muscle aches
• Sore throat
• Fatigue
• Swollen lymph nodes
• Mouth ulcers

These symptoms may come and go within two to four weeks. This stage is called acute HIV infection.

If the infection is not treated, it becomes chronic HIV infection. Often, there are no symptoms during this stage. If it is not treated, eventually the virus will weaken your body's immune system. Then the infection will progress to AIDS. This is the late stage of HIV infection. Because your immune system is badly damaged, your body cannot fight off other infections, called opportunistic infections (OIs). OIs are infections that happen more frequently or are more severe in people who have weakened immune systems.

Some people may not feel sick during the earlier stages of HIV infection. So the only way to know for sure whether you have HIV is to get tested.

A blood test can tell if you have HIV infection. Your health care provider can do the test, or you can use a home testing kit. You can also use the CDC Testing Locator to find free testing sites.

There is no cure for HIV infection, but it can be treated with medicines. This is called antiretroviral therapy (ART). ART can make HIV infection a manageable chronic condition. It also reduces the risk of spreading the virus to others.

Most people with HIV live long and healthy lives if they get ART as soon as possible and stay on it. It's also important to take care of yourself. Making sure that you have the support you need, living a healthy lifestyle, and getting regular medical care can help you enjoy a better quality of life.

You can reduce the risk of getting or spreading HIV by:

• Getting tested for HIV.
• Choosing less risky sexual behaviors. This includes limiting the number of sexual partners you have and using latex condoms every time you have sex. If your or your partner is allergic to latex, you can use polyurethane condoms.
• Getting tested and treated for sexually transmitted diseases (STDs).
• Not injecting drugs.
• Talking to your health care provider about medicines to prevent HIV:
  • PrEP (pre-exposure prophylaxis) is for people who don't already have HIV but are at very high risk of getting it. PrEP is daily medicine that can reduce this risk.
  • PEP (post-exposure prophylaxis) is for people who have possibly been exposed to HIV. It is only for emergency situations. PEP must be started within 72 hours after a possible exposure to HIV.

NIH: National Institutes of Health

If you are pregnant or planning to get pregnant, it's important to get tested for HIV as soon as possible. If you find out that do have HIV, you can start treatment right away to protect your health and the health of your baby.

If you are pregnant and have HIV, there is a risk of passing HIV to your baby. It can happen in three ways:

• During pregnancy
• During childbirth, especially if it is vaginal childbirth
• During breastfeeding

But having HIV doesn't mean that you can't have children. Treatment with a combination of HIV medicines can help prevent passing HIV to your baby and protect your own health.

There are several different steps you can take to help prevent passing HIV to your baby:

• Taking HIV medicines. HIV medicines reduce the amount of HIV in the body (viral load) to a very low level. The goal is to get your viral load so low that a standard lab test can't detect it. This is called having an "undetectable viral load." Having an undetectable viral load is the best thing you can do to stay healthy and prevent your baby from getting HIV. These medicines will also help protect your health. Most HIV medicines are safe to use during pregnancy. They don't usually raise the risk of birth defects. But it is important to talk with your health care provider about the risks and benefits of the different medicines. Together you can decide which medicines are right for you. Then you need to make sure you take your medicines regularly.
• If needed, having a cesarean delivery. If your viral load is not reduced enough by the medicines, having a cesarean delivery (C-Section) can help prevent passing HIV to your baby.
• Giving HIV medicines to the baby. Your baby will get HIV medicines as soon as possible after birth. The medicines protect your baby from infection from any HIV that passed from you during childbirth. Which medicine your baby gets depends on several factors, including what your viral load was just before you gave birth. Your baby will need to take medicines for 4 to 6 weeks. He or she will get several HIV tests over the first few months.
• Not breastfeeding. Breast milk can have HIV in it. In the United States, infant formula is safe and readily available. So the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and the American Academy of Pediatrics recommend that if you have HIV, you should feed your baby formula instead of breastfeeding.

If you are trying to get pregnant, it's important for your partner to also get tested for HIV.

If your partner does have HIV and you do not, talk to your provider about taking PrEP. PrEP stands for pre-exposure prophylaxis. This means taking medicines to prevent HIV. The PrEP helps to protect both you and your baby from HIV.

HIV stands for human immunodeficiency virus. It harms your immune system by destroying a type of white blood cell that helps your body fight infection.

AIDS is the final stage of infection with HIV. It happens when the body's immune system is badly damaged because of the virus. Not everyone with HIV develops AIDS.

There is no cure for HIV, but there are many medicines to treat both HIV infection and the health problems and infections (called opportunistic infections, or OIs) and that come with it. These other infections are called opportunistic infections (OIs). The medicines allow people with HIV to have long, healthy lives.

IIf you have HIV, you can help yourself by:

• Getting medical care as soon as you find out that you have HIV. You should find a health care provider who has experience in treating HIV.
• Taking your medicines every day.
• Letting your provider know if you get any symptoms or health problems.
• Keeping up with your regular medical and dental care.
• Managing stress and getting support, such as from support groups, therapists, and social service organizations
• Trying to live a healthy lifestyle, including:
• Eating healthy foods.This can give your body the energy it needs to fight HIV and other infections. It can help you manage HIV symptoms and medicine side effects. It may also improve absorption of your HIV medicines.
• Getting regular exercise. This can strengthen your body and immune system. It may also reduce the risk of depression.
• Getting enough sleep. Sleep is important for your physical strength and mental health.
• Not smoking. People with HIV who smoke have a higher risk of developing conditions such as certain cancers and infections. Smoking can also interfere with your medicines.
• Avoiding heavy drinking or taking illegal drugs. They can damage your liver, which means your HIV medicine may not work as well. They can also make it harder for your body to fight infections.
• Protecting yourself from OIs. Talk to your provider about medicines and vaccines that prevent certain OIs. Also be careful to avoid exposure to contaminated food and water.

It is also important to reduce the risk of spreading HIV to other people. You should tell your sex partners that you have HIV and always use latex condoms. If your or your partner is allergic to latex, you can use polyurethane condoms.

Having HIV/AIDS weakens your body's immune system. It destroys the white blood cells that fight infection. This puts you at risk for opportunistic infections (OIs). OIs are serious infections that take advantage of your weak immune system. These infections are less common and less severe in healthy people.

There are many types of OIs:

• Bacterial infections, including tuberculosis and a serious related disease, Mycobacterium avium complex (MAC)
• Viral infections, such as cytomegalovirus (CMV) and hepatitis C
• Fungal infections, like yeast infections, cryptococcal meningitis, pneumocystis carinii pneumonia (PCP) and histoplasmosis
• Parasitic infections, such as crypto (cryptosporidiosis) and toxo (toxoplasmosis)

Having HIV/AIDS can make infections harder to treat. People with HIV/AIDS are also more likely to have complications from common illnesses such as the flu.

You can help prevent infections by taking your HIV/AIDS medicines. Other things that can help include practicing safe sex, washing your hands well and often, and cooking your food thoroughly.

HIV stands for human immunodeficiency virus. It harms your immune system by destroying a type of white blood cell that helps your body fight infection. This puts you at risk for other infections and diseases.

HIV can spread in different ways:

• By having unprotected vaginal or anal sex with a person who has HIV. "Unprotected" means not using condoms or medicine to treat or prevent HIV. This is the most common way it spreads.
  • Anal sex is the riskiest type of sex for getting or spreading HIV. The rectum's lining is thin and may allow HIV to enter the body during anal sex.
  • During vaginal sex, HIV can enter the body through the delicate tissue that lines the vagina and cervix.
• Rarely, through oral sex with a person who has HIV.
• By sharing drug needles.
• Through contact with the blood of a person who has HIV.
• From mother to baby during pregnancy, childbirth, or breastfeeding.

About one in four people in the United States who have HIV are women. Women who have HIV have some different problems from men:

• Complications such as
  • Repeated vaginal yeast infections
  • Severe pelvic inflammatory disease (PID)
  • A higher risk of cervical cancer
  • Menstrual cycle problems
  • A higher risk of osteoporosis
  • A higher risk of heart disease, especially heart attacks
  • Entering menopause younger or having more severe hot flashes
• Different, sometimes more severe, side effects from the medicines that treat HIV
• Drug interactions between some HIV medicines and hormonal birth control
• The risk of giving HIV to their baby while pregnancy or during childbirth

There is no cure, but there are many medicines to treat both HIV infection and the infections and cancers that come with it. People who get early treatment can live longer and healthier lives.

HIV stands for human immunodeficiency virus. It harms your immune system by destroying CD4 cells. These are a type of white blood cells that fight infection. The loss of these cells makes it hard for your body to fight off infections and certain HIV-related cancers.

Without treatment, HIV can gradually destroy the immune system and advance to AIDS. AIDS stands for acquired immunodeficiency syndrome. It is the final stage of infection with HIV. Not everyone with HIV develops AIDS.

The treatment of HIV with medicines is called antiretroviral therapy (ART). It involves taking a combination of medicines every day. ART is recommended for everyone who has HIV. The medicines do not cure HIV infection, but help people with HIV live longer, healthier lives. They also reduce the risk of spreading the virus to others.

HIV medicines reduce the amount of HIV (viral load) in your body, which helps by:

• Giving your immune system a chance to recover. Even though there is still some HIV in your body, your immune system should be strong enough to fight off infections and certain HIV-related cancers.
• Reducing the risk that you will spread HIV to others.

There are many different types (called classes) of HIV medicines. Some work by blocking or changing enzymes that HIV needs to make copies of itself. This prevents HIV from copying itself, which reduces the amount of HIV in the body. Several types of medicines do this:

• Nucleoside reverse transcriptase inhibitors (NRTIs) block an enzyme called reverse transcriptase
• Non-nucleoside reverse transcriptase inhibitors (NNRTIs) bind to and later change reverse transcriptase
• Integrase inhibitors, also called integrase strand transfer inhibitors (INSTIs), block an enzyme called integrase
• Protease inhibitors (PIs) block an enzyme called protease

Some types of HIV medicines interfere with HIV's ability to infect CD4 immune system cells:

• Fusion inhibitors block HIV from entering the cells
• CCR5 antagonists and post-attachment inhibitors block different molecules on the CD4 cells. To infect a cell, HIV has to bind to two types of molecules on the cell's surface. Blocking either of these molecules prevents HIV from entering the cells.
• Attachment inhibitors bind to a specific protein on the outer surface of HIV. This prevents HIV from entering the cell.

Pharmacokinetic enhancers are another type of medicine. They are sometimes taken along with certain other HIV medicines. Pharmacokinetic enhancers increase the effectiveness of the other medicine. They work by slowing the breakdown of the other medicine. This allows that medicine to stay in the body longer at a higher concentration.

There are also multidrug combinations, which include a combination of two or more different types of HIV medicines.

It's important to start taking HIV medicines as soon as possible after your diagnosis, especially if you:

• Are pregnant
• Have AIDS
• Have certain HIV-related illnesses and infections
• Have an early HIV infection (the first 6 months after infection with HIV)

You and your health care provider will work together to come up with a personal treatment plan. This plan will be based on many factors, including:

• The possible side effects of HIV medicines
• Potential drug interactions with any other medicines you take
• How many medicines you will need to take every day
• Any other health problems you may have

It's important to take your medicines every day, according to the instructions from your provider. If you miss doses or don't follow a regular schedule, your treatment may not work, and the HIV virus may become resistant to the medicines.

HIV medicines can cause side effects. Most of these side effects are manageable, but a few can be serious. Tell your provider about any side effects that you are having. Don't stop taking your medicine without first talking to your provider. There may be steps you can take to help manage the side effects. In some cases, your provider may decide to change your medicines.

HIV medicines are not just used for treatment. Some people take them to prevent HIV. PrEP (pre-exposure prophylaxis) is for people who don't already have HIV but are at very high risk of getting it. PEP (post-exposure prophylaxis) is for people who have possibly been exposed to HIV.

NIH: Office of AIDS Research

PrEP and PEP are medicines to prevent HIV. Each type is used in a different situation:

• PrEP stands for pre-exposure prophylaxis. It is for people who don't already have HIV but are at risk of getting it. PrEP is medicine that can reduce this risk. It can either be a pill that you take every day or an injection that you get every two months. With PrEP, if you do get exposed to HIV, the medicine can stop HIV from taking hold and spreading throughout your body.
• PEP stands for post-exposure prophylaxis. PEP is for people who have possibly been exposed to HIV. It is only for emergency situations. PEP must be started within 72 hours after a possible exposure to HIV.

PrEP can help protect you if you don't have HIV and any of these applies to you:

• You have had anal or vaginal sex in the past 6 months and:
  • Have a sexual partner with HIV,
  • Have not consistently used a condom, OR
  • Have been diagnosed with a sexually transmitted disease in the past 6 months
• You inject drugs and:
  • Share needles or other equipment to inject drugs OR
  • Have an injection partner with HIV
• You have been prescribed PEP and:
  • Continue engaging in high-risk behaviors OR
  • Have used multiple courses of PEP

If you have a partner who is HIV-positive and are considering getting pregnant, talk to your health care provider about PrEP. Taking it may help protect you and your baby from getting HIV infection while you try to get pregnant, during pregnancy, or while breastfeeding.

PrEP is very effective when you take it consistently. It reduces the risk of getting HIV from sex by about 99%. In people who inject drugs, it reduces the risk of HIV by at least 74%. PrEP is much less effective if you do not take it consistently.

PrEP does not protect against other STDs, so you should still use latex condoms every time you have sex. If your or your partner is allergic to latex, you can use polyurethane condoms.

You must have an HIV test every 3 months while taking PrEP, so you'll have regular follow-up visits with your health care provider. If you are having trouble taking PrEP every day or if you want to stop taking PrEP, talk to your provider.

Some people taking PrEP may have side effects, like nausea. The side effects are usually not serious and often get better over time. If you are taking PrEP, tell your provider if you have a side effect that bothers you or that does not go away.

If you are HIV-negative and you think you may have been recently exposed to HIV, contact your health care provider immediately or go to an emergency room right away.

You may be prescribed PEP if you are HIV negative or don't know your HIV status, and in the last 72 hours you may have been exposed to HIV:

• During sex, for example if a condom broke during sex with someone who could have HIV,
• Through the sharing of needles or drug preparation equipment, OR
• Through sexual assault

Your provider or emergency room doctor will help to decide whether PEP is right for you.

PEP may also be given to a health care worker after a possible exposure to HIV at work, for example, from a needlestick injury.

PEP must be started within 72 hours (3 days) after a possible exposure to HIV. The sooner you start it, the better; every hour counts.

You need to take the PEP medicines every day for 28 days. You will have to see your provider at certain times during and after taking the PEP, so you can have an HIV screening test and other testing.

Some people taking PEP may have side effects, like nausea. The side effects are usually not serious and often get better over time. If you are taking PEP, tell your provider if you have a side effect that bothers you or that does not go away.

PEP medicines may also interact with other medicines that a person is taking (called a drug interaction). So it's important to tell your provider about any other medicines that you take.

PEP is only for emergency situations. It is not the right choice for people who may be exposed to HIV frequently - for example, if you often have sex without a condom with a partner who is HIV-positive. In that case, you should talk to your health care provider about whether PrEP (pre-exposure prophylaxis) would be right for you.

Kaposi sarcoma, sometimes called KS, is a type of cancer. It causes lesions (abnormal tissue) to grow in different parts of the body, including:

• The skin
• Lymph nodes
• Mucous membranes (the lining of the mouth, nose, and throat)
• Other organs

These lesions are usually red or purple. They are made of cancer cells, new blood vessels, and blood cells. The lesions may begin in more than one place in the body at the same time. This makes Kaposi sarcoma different from other cancers.

Kaposi sarcoma is caused by infection with human herpesvirus-8 (HHV-8). This virus is also called Kaposi sarcoma-associated herpesvirus (KSHV). Most people infected with this virus don't get Kaposi sarcoma. But certain people who get this virus are more likely to develop one of the types of Kaposi sarcoma:

• People with weakened immune systems due to HIV can develop epidemic (HIV-associated) Kaposi sarcoma.
• People with weakened immune systems due to medicines they need to take after an organ transplant can develop iatrogenic (transplant-related) Kaposi sarcoma.
• Older men of Mediterranean or Eastern European Jewish heritage can develop classic Kaposi sarcoma.
• Young men in Africa can develop endemic (African) Kaposi sarcoma.

Kaposi sarcoma usually starts out as one or more red, purple, or brown skin lesions on the legs and feet. They are most often on the ankles or soles of the feet. Over time, lesions may form in other parts of the body. The lesions may not cause symptoms. But sometimes the lesions can cause problems, especially as you get more of them and they grow bigger. For example:

• Pressure from the lesions may block the flow of lymph and blood in the legs and cause painful swelling
• If lesions grow in your stomach or intestines, they can bleed and may cause abdominal (belly) pain and diarrhea
• Lesions in the lungs can also bleed and may cause shortness of breath

To find out whether you have Kaposi sarcoma, your health care provider:

• Will ask about your medical and family history
• Will do a physical exam
• May order a chest x-ray to look for Kaposi sarcoma in the lungs
• May do a biopsy to check for Kaposi sarcoma lesions in the skin
• May do an endoscopy to check for Kaposi sarcoma in the stomach and intestines
• May do a bronchoscopy to check for Kaposi sarcoma in the lungs

If you do have Kaposi sarcoma, you will likely need blood and imaging tests to find out if the cancer has spread to other parts of the body.

Which treatment(s) you get will depend on

• The type of Kaposi sarcoma you have
• How many lesions you have and where in the body they are
• What kinds of problems the lesions are causing
• Your overall health

For people who have epidemic (HIV-associated) Kaposi sarcoma, taking HIV medicines may be enough to treat the Kaposi sarcoma. For people who have iatrogenic (transplant-related) Kaposi sarcoma, changing the dose of the medicines or switching medicines may be helpful. But some people with these types of Kaposi sarcoma will need additional treatment.

The treatment options for Kaposi sarcoma may include:

• Radiation therapy
• Surgery
• Cryosurgery, a treatment that uses an instrument to freeze and destroy abnormal tissue
• Chemotherapy
• Immunotherapy

NIH: National Cancer Institute

Hepatitis is inflammation of the liver. Inflammation is swelling that happens when tissues of the body are injured or infected. It can damage your liver. This swelling and damage can affect how well your liver functions.

Hepatitis B is a type of viral hepatitis. It can cause an acute (short-term) or chronic (long-term) infection. People with an acute infection usually get better on their own without treatment. Some people with chronic hepatitis B will need treatment.

Thanks to a vaccine, hepatitis B is not very common in the United States. It is more common in certain parts of the world, such as sub-Saharan Africa and parts of Asia.

Hepatitis B is caused by the hepatitis B virus. The virus spreads through contact with blood, semen, or other body fluids from a person who has the virus.

Anyone can get hepatitis B, but the risk is higher in:

• Infants born to mothers who have hepatitis B
• People who inject drugs or share needles, syringes, and other types of drug equipment
• Sex partners of people with hepatitis B, especially if they are not using latex or polyurethane condoms during sex
• Men who have sex with men
• People who live with someone who has hepatitis B, especially if they use the same razor, toothbrush, or nail clippers
• Health care and public-safety workers who are exposed to blood on the job
• Hemodialysis patients
• People who have lived in or traveled often to parts of the world where hepatitis B is common
• Have diabetes, hepatitis C, or HIV

Often, people with hepatitis B don't have symptoms. Adults and children over 5 are more likely to have symptoms than younger children.

Some people with acute hepatitis B have symptoms 2 to 5 months after infection. These symptoms can include:

• Dark yellow urine
• Diarrhea
• Fatigue
• Fever
• Gray- or clay-colored stools
• Joint pain
• Loss of appetite
• Nausea and/or vomiting
• Abdominal pain
• Yellowish eyes and skin, called jaundice

If you have chronic hepatitis B, you may not have symptoms until complications develop. This could be decades after you were infected. For this reason, hepatitis B screening is important, even if you have no symptoms. Screening means that you are tested for a disease even though you don't have symptoms. If you are at high risk, your health care provider may suggest screening.

In rare cases, acute hepatitis B can cause liver failure.

Chronic hepatitis B can develop into a serious disease that causes long-term health problems such as cirrhosis (scarring of the liver), liver cancer, and liver failure.

If you have ever had hepatitis B, the virus may become active again, or reactivated, later in life. This could start to damage the liver and cause symptoms.

To diagnose hepatitis B, your health care provider may use many tools to make a diagnosis:

• A medical history, which includes asking about your symptoms
• A physical exam
• Blood tests, including tests for viral hepatitis

If you have acute hepatitis B, you probably don't need treatment. Some people with chronic hepatitis B don't need treatment. But if you have a chronic infection and blood tests show that hepatitis B could be damaging your liver, you may need to take antiviral medicines.

The best way to prevent hepatitis B is to get the hepatitis B vaccine.

You can also reduce your chance of hepatitis B infection by:

• Not sharing drug needles or other drug materials
• Wearing gloves if you have to touch another person's blood or open sores
• Making sure your tattoo artist or body piercer uses sterile tools
• Not sharing personal items, such as toothbrushes, razors, or nail clippers
• Using a latex condom during sex. If your or your partner is allergic to latex, you can use polyurethane condoms.

If you think you have been in contact with the hepatitis B virus, see your health care provider right away. Your provider may give you a dose of the hepatitis B vaccine to prevent infection. In some cases, your provider may also give you a medicine called hepatitis B immune globulin (HBIG). You need to get the vaccine and the HBIG (if needed) as soon as possible after coming into contact with the virus. It is best if you can get them within 24 hours.

National Institute of Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Diseases

Hepatitis is inflammation of the liver. Inflammation is swelling that happens when tissues of the body are injured or infected. Inflammation can damage organs.

There are different types of hepatitis. One type, hepatitis C, is caused by the hepatitis C virus (HCV). Hepatitis C can range from a mild illness lasting a few weeks to a serious, lifelong illness.

Hepatitis C can be acute or chronic:

• Acute hepatitis C is a short-term infection. The symptoms can last up to 6 months. Sometimes your body is able to fight off the infection and the virus goes away. But for most people, an acute infection leads to chronic infection.
• Chronic hepatitis C is a long-lasting infection. If it is not treated, it can last for a lifetime and cause serious health problems, including liver damage, cirrhosis (scarring of the liver), liver cancer, and even death.

Hepatitis C spreads through contact with the blood of someone who has HCV. This contact may be through:

• Sharing drug needles or other drug materials with someone who has HCV. In the United States, this is the most common way that people get hepatitis C.
• Getting an accidental stick with a needle that was used on someone who has HCV. This can happen in health care settings.
• Being tattooed or pierced with tools or inks that were not sterilized after being used on someone who has HCV
• Having contact with the blood or open sores of someone who has HCV
• Sharing personal care items that may have come in contact with another person's blood, such as razors or toothbrushes
• Being born to a mother with HCV
• Having unprotected sex with someone who has HCV

Before 1992, hepatitis C was also commonly spread through blood transfusions and organ transplants. Since then, there has been routine testing of the U.S. blood supply for HCV. It is now very rare for someone to get HCV this way.

You are more likely to get hepatitis C if you:

• Have injected drugs
• Had a blood transfusion or organ transplant before July 1992
• Have hemophilia and received clotting factor before 1987
• Have been on kidney dialysis
• Have been in contact with blood or infected needles at work
• Have had tattoos or body piercings
• Have worked or lived in a prison
• Were born to a mother with hepatitis C
• Have HIV
• Have had more than one sex partner in the last 6 months
• Have had a sexually transmitted disease
• Are a man who has had sex with men (MSM)

If you are at high risk for hepatitis C, your health care provider will likely recommend that you get tested for it.

Most people with hepatitis C have no symptoms. Some people with acute hepatitis C do have symptoms within 1 to 3 months after they are exposed to the virus. These symptoms may include:

• Dark yellow urine
• Fatigue
• Fever
• Gray- or clay-colored stools
• Joint pain
• Loss of appetite
• Nausea and/or vomiting
• Pain in your abdomen (belly)
• Jaundice (yellowish eyes and skin)

If you have chronic hepatitis C, you probably will not have symptoms until it causes complications. This can happen decades after you were infected. For this reason, hepatitis C screening is important, even if you have no symptoms.

Without treatment, hepatitis C may lead to cirrhosis, liver failure, and liver cancer. Early diagnosis and treatment of hepatitis C can prevent these complications.

Providers diagnose hepatitis C based on your medical history, a physical exam, and blood tests.

If you do have hepatitis C, you may need additional tests to check for liver damage. These tests may include other blood tests, an ultrasound of the liver, and a liver biopsy.

Treatment for hepatitis C is with antiviral medicines. They can cure the disease in most cases.

If you have acute hepatitis C, your provider may wait to see if your infection becomes chronic before starting treatment.

If your hepatitis C causes cirrhosis, you should see a doctor who specializes in liver diseases. Treatments for health problems related to cirrhosis include medicines, surgery, and other medical procedures. If your hepatitis C leads to liver failure or liver cancer, you may need a liver transplant.

There is no vaccine for hepatitis C. But you can help protect yourself from hepatitis C infection by:

• Not sharing drug needles or other drug materials.
• Wearing gloves if you have to touch another person's blood or open sores.
• Making sure your tattoo artist or body piercer uses sterile tools and unopened ink.
• Not sharing personal items such toothbrushes, razors, or nail clippers.
• Using a latex condom during sex. If your or your partner is allergic to latex, you can use polyurethane condoms.

NIH: National Institute of Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Diseases