Hepatitis C

Today, all hepatitis C patients can be treated. The treatment is simple, effective, has little to no side effects and consists of pills to be taken for 8 to 16 weeks.
When are you cured of hepatitis C? A blood test is performed 12 weeks after the end of treatment. Cure is confirmed if no more virus is found in the blood.

Please note that after treatment and cure of hepatitis C, you can always be infected again. This is because with hepatitis C, the antibodies are not protective!

Hepatitis C is an inflammation of the liver caused by the hepatitis C virus (HCV). The virus spreads through contact with infected blood.

Diagnosis of hepatitis C is performed in 2 stages:

1. The detection of HCV antibodies, is done by finger prick or blood sampling.
2. If this result is positive, a second blood draw will measure the amount of virus in the blood (HCV RNA).
The doctor will discuss the blood results with the patient.

Fibrosis
The doctor may decide to do further examinations, to determine the degree of fibrosis of the liver. This is done using a Fibroscan. It is a simple, non-invasive, and painless examination that measures the elasticity of the liver. The more fibrosis, the less elastic the liver is (= the more the liver is damaged).

Cirrhosis and liver cancer
Untreated, hepatitis C can damage (=fibrosis) your liver in the long run and cause cirrhosis and/or liver cancer.