Hepatitis B and C: Should I Be Tested?

Hepatitis causes inflammation of the liver. Hepatitis B and C are spread through infected blood and body fluids. Hepatitis B is spread most often during sexual contact and when people share needles to inject drugs.

Hepatitis C also is spread through shared needles. Both types can be spread when an infected person shares items such as razors or toothbrushes.

Sometimes a baby is infected at birth because the mother has hepatitis.

Less common causes include:

• Getting a tattoo or body piercing with a needle that was not sterile.
• Getting an accidental needle stick from a dirty needle.
• Having received a blood transfusion before 1992 (hepatitis C).

Many people get hepatitis without knowing how they got it. And many people have hepatitis for years without knowing it, because they have no symptoms.

Both hepatitis B and C can cause serious liver problems, such as cirrhosis , liver cancer, or liver failure. But some people never have serious problems.

Most adults who get hepatitis B have it for a short time and then get better on their own.

Most people who get hepatitis C will have a long-term infection that may never go away, even with treatment.

You can have a blood test to find out if you have hepatitis B or hepatitis C. A small amount of blood is drawn from your arm. The blood is sent to a lab.

The test looks for hepatitis antibodies . Having these antibodies means that you have been exposed to hepatitis, but it does not mean that you now have an active infection.

If the test shows that you have been exposed to hepatitis B or C, your blood may be tested again to see if the virus is still in your blood. The second test shows whether you have an active hepatitis infection. For the second test, the lab may use some of the blood that was already drawn, or you may need to have more blood drawn.

• Getting tested can lead to early treatment, which may help prevent a long-term infection.
• If you know that you have hepatitis, you may decide to tell people who may have given you the disease, so that they can get tested. People you may have infected also could be tested.
• If you know that you have the infection, you can take steps to avoid spreading it.
• If your test shows that you don't have hepatitis B, you can get a vaccine to keep you from ever getting it. There is no vaccine for hepatitis C.

If you find out that you have hepatitis B or C, you have to decide whether to get treatment.

• A new hepatitis B infection in adults usually does not need to be treated. It usually goes away on its own. But in some people it leads to long-term (chronic) infection and serious liver problems.
• Some of the medicines used to treat hepatitis B have few or no side effects. But others can cause serious side effects, such as constant tiredness, headaches, a fever, nausea, thyroid problems, or depression.
• The medicines used to treat hepatitis C can cause serious side effects during the 6 to 12 months or longer that you take them. Side effects can include constant tiredness, headaches, a fever, nausea, thyroid problems, or depression. Some people stop treatment because the medicine makes them too ill. And the treatment doesn't always work.

Your doctor might advise you to get tested for hepatitis B or C if:

• Your job or your lifestyle puts you at risk for getting hepatitis. For example:
  • You work with body fluids.
  • You have sex without using a condom with more than one partner.
  • You share needles to inject drugs.
  • You have snorted (inhaled) cocaine.