Risk Factors for Hepatitis C

List of Risk Factors for Hepatitis C

The list of risk factors mentioned for Hepatitis C in various sources includes:

Risk factors discussion:

Chronic Hepatitis C Current Disease Management: NIDDK (Excerpt)

The major high-risk groups for hepatitis C are

People who had blood transfusions before June 1992, when sensitive tests for anti-HCV were introduced for blood screening.
People who have frequent exposure to blood products. These include patients with hemophilia, solid-organ transplants, chronic renal failure, or cancer requiring chemotherapy.
Health care workers who suffer needle-stick accidents.
Injection drug users, including those who used drugs briefly many years ago.
Infants born to HCV-infected mothers.

Other groups who appear to be at slightly increased risk for hepatitis C are

People with high-risk sexual behavior, multiple partners, and sexually transmitted diseases.
People who use cocaine, particularly with intranasal administration, using shared equipment.

(Source: excerpt from Chronic Hepatitis C Current Disease Management: NIDDK)

Viral Hepatitis A to E and Beyond: NIDDK (Excerpt)

Injection drug users, hemodialysis patients, health care workers, people who have sex with an infected person, people who have multiple sex partners, infants born to infected women, and people who received a transfusion of blood or blood products before July 1992 or clotting factors made before 1987. (Source: excerpt from Viral Hepatitis A to E and Beyond: NIDDK)

Facts About Hepatitis A and C: CDC-OC (Excerpt)

Persons at-risk for infection include injecting drug users, health-care workers, hemodialysis patients, persons living at a low socioeconomic level, sexual/household contacts of infected persons, sexually active heterosexuals, and transfusion recipients (Source: excerpt from Facts About Hepatitis A and C: CDC-OC)

Risks factors for Hepatitis C: medical news summaries:

The following medical news items are relevant to risk factors for Hepatitis C:

About risk factors:

Risk factors for Hepatitis C are factors that do not seem to be a direct cause of the disease, but seem to be associated in some way. Having a risk factor for Hepatitis C makes the chances of getting a condition higher but does not always lead to Hepatitis C. Also, the absence of any risk factors or having a protective factor does not necessarily guard you against getting Hepatitis C. For general information and a list of risk factors, see the risk center.

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