Brief information on hepatitis C
- Hepatitis C is transmitted through blood, especially when sharing syringes during Drug usesometimes also during sex.
- Without treatment, the disease often becomes chronic and can have serious health consequences.
- In most cases, hepatitis C can be cured with treatment within 8-12 weeks. It is best to be treated for hepatitis C in an HIV specialist practice or a gestroenterological practice to avoid waiting times before starting treatment.
- In contrast to Hepatitis A & B there is No vaccination. You can are repeatedly infected with hepatitis C.
- How to protect yourself: Clean syringes when using drugs ("don't share anything") and gloves when fisting. With long and vigorous fucking, blood is sometimes involved - then condoms provide protection.
Protection
Hepatitis C is often recognised far too late and can lead to severe liver damage. It is diagnosed by a blood test. As hepatitis C is transmitted through blood, you can follow a few simple protective rules.
There is no vaccination against hepatitis C, and you can become infected again even after you have been cured. You can protect yourself with the following measures:
Only use your own equipment when using drugs. If blood could be involved in sexual practices, use gloves to protect yourself when fisting or condoms when fucking.
While fucking
- Do not share sex toys such as dildos with others. It is best to always put on a new condom or clean or disinfect the toys thoroughly.
- Condoms protect you when fucking, use a new condom for each partner. If you're going to fuck without a condom, you should at least use more lubricant than usual, but less poppers - then you won't bleed as easily.
- If you have more than ten sex partners a year and/or are into rough sex, get tested for hepatitis C once a year.
When fisting
- Use gloves when fisting - use a new glove for each new partner. Use a separate pot of lubricant for each fisting partner.
Substance use
- If you inject anabolic steroids or other substances, do not share the needle with others. This also applies to razor blades and toothbrushes. Make sure that hygiene standards are observed for tattoos and piercings.
You can find more information about substance use and how you can minimise the risks here on our knowledge centre page Drugs.
Reinfection
Even after successful treatment, you can still be re-infected with hepatitis C!
Expert video
What is important about hepatitis C from a medical point of view? Armin Schafberger, medical officer at Deutsche Aidshilfe, talks to Frauke Oppenberg about symptoms, transmission routes, risks and the treatment situation.
How is hepatitis C transmitted?
The hepatitis C virus is transmitted through blood. Even small traces of blood, which may not even be visible, can lead to an infection.
One Transmission during sex is rare in HIV-negative people. The risk is probably higher if there is bleeding during sex, for example during fisting or heavy, prolonged fucking. HCV-containing blood could also be transmitted when sharing toys or during group sex when one guy fucks or fists several others (with or without a condom).
Infections mainly occur when injecting drugs such as ketamine, crystal or heroin if syringes or other accessories such as tubes are shared: HCV can "survive" in blood residues for up to three weeks.
Progression, symptoms and diagnosis
In more than three quarters of cases, acute hepatitis C is not even noticed, i.e. there are no or only mild symptoms or complaints. In around 10 to 20 % of cases, flu-like symptoms occur, and sometimes the eyes and skin may also turn yellow.
Just under a quarter of acute infections heal within the first six months, three quarters of infections become chronic. Most chronic hepatitis C infections remain asymptomatic or asymptomatic for years or decades (with fatigue, abdominal pain, fatigue and recurring temporary increases in liver enzymes).
Over the course of years and decades, chronic inflammation leads to connective tissue remodelling of the liver (fibrosis). With progressive hardening (cirrhosis) of the liver, its functional capacity also decreases and the risk of developing liver cancer increases.
Due to the long period of unspecific symptoms, hepatitis is usually only discovered by chance during a blood test - when you get to the bottom of the (slightly) elevated liver values. From October 2021, hepatitis B and C screening will be part of the health check-up that over 35-year-olds are entitled to every three years at the expense of their health insurance. For men taking HIV-PrEP, the screening programme includes a hepatitis C test every 6-12 months.
Many people no longer know whether they were at risk of hepatitis C 20 or 30 years ago. In these cases, it is therefore advisable to have a hepatitis C test once in a lifetime. If there are ongoing risks (e.g. intravenous drug use) or risks during sex, a hepatitis C test should be carried out every six months or annually.
Whether you have had or have hepatitis C can also be easily determined by a rapid test. Many checkpoints offer such tests. A drop of blood from the fingertip is sufficient. If the result of the rapid test is reactive, a PCR test must be carried out to determine whether it is a case of cured hepatitis C (which leaves behind antibodies) or active hepatitis C that needs to be treated.
How is hepatitis C treated?
As acute hepatitis C infection does not cause any symptoms in most cases, it often goes unnoticed and subsequently untreated.
In most cases, hepatitis C can be cured within 8-12 weeks of treatment. Since 2014, new drugs have been available that are well tolerated. One tablet is taken once a day.
It is important to note that every chronic hepatitis C infection should be treated! Otherwise the virus will damage the liver sooner or later.
It is best to have the therapy carried out by specialised doctors. These are in particular HIV specialist practices and gastroenterological practices. Here you can usually start treatment at an early stage and avoid having to wait until treatment starts. You can find HIV speciality doctors, for example, at the relevant specialist association DAGNÄ.
Expert: Armin Schafberger (Consultant "Medicine and Health Policy", Deutsche Aidshilfe)
last updated 28.08.2021
Released by IWWIT editorial team
Further links:
aidshilfe.de
lovelife.com
rki.de
dgvs.de
You can find experience reports on the topic of hepatitis C and more from medicine and research in our Blog.
