How is HCV transmitted?
HCV is transmitted primarily through large or repeated percutaneous (i.e., passage through the skin) exposures to infectious blood, such as • Injection drug use (currently the most common means of HCV transmission in the United States) • Receipt of donated blood, blood products, and organs (once a common means of transmission but now rare in the United States since blood screening became available in 1992) • Needlestick injuries in healthcare settings • Birth to an HCV-infected mother HCV can also be spread infrequently through • Sex with an HCV-infected person (an inefficient means of transmission) • Sharing personal items contaminated with infectious blood, such as razors or toothbrushes (also inefficient vectors of transmission) • Other healthcare procedures that involve invasive procedures, such as injections (usually recognized in the context of outbreaks)
