Who gets hepatitis C?
Persons at highest risk for HCV infection include: • persons who ever injected illegal drugs, including those who injected once or a few times many years ago, • people who had blood transfusions, blood products or organ donations before June 1992, when sensitive tests for HCV were introduced for blood screening, and • persons who received clotting factors made before 1987. Other persons at risk for hepatitis C include: • long-term kidney dialysis patients, • health care workers after exposures (i.e., needle stick or splashes to the eye) to the blood of an infected person while on the job, • infants born to HCV-infected mothers, • people with high-risk sexual behavior, multiple partners and sexually transmitted diseases, • people who snort cocaine using shared equipment, and • people who have shared toothbrushes, razors and other personal items with a family member who is HCV-infected.
