Please note: this is a small-scale, ‘pilot’ project initially. Therefore, not every patient registered at Nelson Medical Practice who have risk factors for hepatitis C virus will be offered a test via this project. Please only read this Patient Information Webpage if you have been sent the link to do so. Nevertheless, if you are concerned about hepatitis C virus or feel you have risk factors for being infected with this virus, please make a routine appointment with any GP to talk about this.
The Nelson Medical Practice would like to offer those at a higher risk of hepatitis C a screening blood test. This is because early diagnosis and treatment can help prevent or limit any damage to your liver, as well as help ensure the infection is not passed on to other people.
Hepatitis C is a virus that can infect the liver. You can become infected with it if you come into contact with the blood of an infected person. If left untreated, hepatitis C virus can sometimes cause serious and potentially life-threatening damage to the liver over many years. With modern treatments, it's usually possible to cure the infection.
Hepatitis C does not often have noticeable symptoms until the liver has been significantly damaged. This means many people are infected without realising. When symptoms do occur, they can include flu-like symptoms, persistent tiredness, appetite loss, stomach-ache, feeling/being sick.
Therefore, early diagnosis and treatment can help prevent or limit any damage to your liver, as well as help ensure the infection is not passed on to other people.
Diagnosis
Testing for hepatitis C usually consists of 2 tests: 1. hepatitis C antibody test, and 2. hepatitis C Hepatitis C RNA/PCR test. The results of these tests usually take 2 weeks to come back.
We would like to invite you to have a blood test to conduct these tests. The antibody test will be tested on your blood first to determine if you have ever been exposed to hepatitis C by testing for the presence of antibodies to the virus. Antibodies are produced by your immune system to fight germs. Your body can take time to make these antibodies, therefore this test will not show a positive result for some 3-6 months after the infection date. A positive antibody test indicates you have been infected at some stage. It doesn't necessarily mean you are currently infected, as you may have since cleared the virus from your body.
The only way to confirm if you are currently infected is to then also run a second ‘PCR’ test on your blood. This PCR test checks if the virus is still present and reproducing in your body. A positive PCR test means your body has not fought off the virus and that you are currently infected with ‘active’ hepatitis C infection. If you have an ‘active’ infection, you will be referred to a hospital specialist to talk about your treatment options. A negative PCR test means you may have been infected in the past, but do not currently have an active infection.
It is most likely we will only need to take one sample of blood to run both the antibody and the PCR/RNA tests. However, if a second blood test is needed to confirm your diagnosis, we will contact you quickly to arrange this. If either your antibody or your ‘PCR’ tests are positive, we will arrange an appointment for you with a doctor to discuss these results. If your antibody (screening) test is negative, we will send you a text message to inform you. If you receive a negative result, but you think you have been exposed to the hepatitis C virus recently, please make another appointment with us independently to organise a repeat test.
Treatment
If you are found to have active hepatitis C infection, you will be referred to a specialist for further blood tests/scans and to discuss treatment options. Using the latest medications, >90% of people with hepatitis C may be cured. The specialist may offer you treatment to stop the virus from multiplying inside the body. Treatment is usually taken for several weeks.
If we contact you and you would like to have these free hepatitis C blood tests, please complete the next steps indicated on the SMS message.
Please note: this is a small-scale, ‘pilot’ project initially. Therefore, not every patient registered at Nelson Medical Practice who have risk factors for hepatitis C virus will be offered a test via this project. Therefore, please only read this Patient Information Webpage if you have been sent the link to do so.
Nevertheless, if you are concerned about hepatitis C virus or feel you have risk factors for being infected with this virus, please make a routine appointment with any GP to talk about this.
The above information has been taken from the NHS website on hepatitis C and from the ‘Hep C U Later’ website. You can read more about the symptoms, causes, diagnosis, treatment, lifestyle FAQs and complications in more detail here: https://www.nhs.uk/conditions/hepatitis-c/ or here https://www.hepculater.com/diagnosing-hepatitis-c/