Hepatitis C continues to infect individuals in Saskatchewan. While Hep-C may be treatable, untreated Hep-C is a significant health threat. Transmission routes include shared drug equipment, dry blood contact, exposure during vacations, tattoos or piercing, and exposure through personal items such as razors and toothbrushes.

1. Hepatitis C
Education & Outreach Team at
AIDS Programs South Saskatchewan

2. Five main types
of hepatitis
What does hepatitis mean?
• HEPA means liver
• IT IS means inflammation
Hepatitis ..
Inflammation (swelling) of the
liver most commonly caused by
a viral infection
Hepatitis B, C & D
• Caused by
exposure to
infected body
fluids
Hepatitis A & E
• Caused by
ingestion of
contaminated food
and water

4. Across Canada,
1 in 5 people living
with Hepatitis C
do not know they
have the virus!

5. What is Hepatitis
Infection?
• Hepatitis C is a contagious
liver disease that results
from infection with the
Hepatitis C virus.
• It can range in severity
from a mild illness lasting a
few weeks to a
serious, lifelong illness.
The Virus
• The virus can survive outside
the body at room
temperature, on
environmental surfaces, for at
least 16 hours but no longer
than 4 days
• The virus is an RNA virus and
uses liver cells to create
copies of itself, killing those
cells in the process.

6. Why is
Hep C
a
Health
Concern?
• Many infected people do not
know they have the virus
because for most, there will be
no symptoms and for
others, the symptoms may not
show up for decades
• You may not know you have
this infection until damage has
already been done to your liver
• There is no vaccine

7. What
does
my
liver
do?

9. Stages of Liver Damage
Infection
• the virus enters the
bloodstream and is
carried to the liver to
infect the liver cells
Inflammation
• infected liver cells
become damaged and
some cells die causing
the liver to swell
Fibrosis
• scar tissue that forms
on the liver in reaction
to an infection or toxin
Cirrhosis
• severe widespread
scarring that destroys
the liver

10. Liver Cancer or
Liver Failure
After a long period of
time, untreated hepatitis c can
result in people developing
liver cancer or the liver can
stop working (called liver
failure)

11. Liver Damage

12. How is
Hepatitis C
Transmitted?
Through
blood to
blood
contact!
• sharing
needles, pipes, straws, cookers, filters, tie
s, or water for drug use
• piercing or tattooing equipment
(including ink) used on someone else
• hygiene/grooming such as razors, nail
clippers and toothbrushes
• unprotected sex
• reusing medical equipment that was not
properly sterilized
• Pre-1992 blood transfusions

14. What are ways
Hepatitis C is
not spread?
• eating utensils
• breastfeeding
• hugging
• kissing
• holding hands
• coughing
• sneezing
• food
• water

15. Hepatitis C Infection
The virus goes
away on it’s own
• 1 out of 4 people (25%) the virus
goes way on its own during the
first 6 months after infection
• 3 out of 4 (75%) go on to chronic
Hep C and the virus will not go
away on it’s own.
Chronic Hep C
Possible Inflammation
Fibrosis
Possible cirrhosis
and liver cancer

16. • Acute Hepatitis C virus infection is a short-term
illness that occurs within the first 6 months after
someone is exposed to the Hepatitis C virus. For
most people, acute infection leads to chronic
infection.
• Chronic Hepatitis C virus infection is a long-term
illness that occurs when the Hepatitis C virus
remains in a person’s body. Hepatitis C virus
infection can last a lifetime and lead to serious
liver problems, including cirrhosis (scarring of the
liver) or liver cancer.

17.  70-80% of people experience
NO SYMPTOMS
 20-30 % may experience:
 fatigue
 flu-like symptoms
 nausea
 yellowing of the eyes and skin
 low appetite
 rash
 abdominal pain
 bruise or bleed easily
 dark-coloured urine
 light or clay-coloured stools
Signs &
Symptoms
Acute
Phase

18. Can take decades for these
signs to appear:
 fatigue
 nausea
 yellowing of the eyes
 blood in stool or
vomit
 dry or itchy skin
 sleep disturbances
 depression
 weight loss
“brain fog”
Signs &
Symptoms
Chronic
Phase

20. Hepatitis C Viral Load
A person’s hepatitis C viral load
refers to the amount of the virus
in a given sample of blood.
It is generally accepted that one’s
viral load does not determine how
much liver damage a person will
have—a higher viral load does not
guarantee more liver damage and
a lower viral load does not
guarantee less liver damage.

21. No vaccine and no immunity:
People can be infected more than once
• People who get hepatitis C and clear the virus
can be re-infected.
• Hepatitis C antibodies do not protect against
the virus.
• People can also be infected with multiple
strains, making the infection more difficult to
manage.

22. Virus Strains
There are several genotypes (strains) of HCV. It’s important to
test for the strain of HCV you have for two reasons.
1. Some HCV strains are more easily treated than
others, meaning effective treatment may take less time.
2. if you have had multiple exposures to HCV, you may be
infected with more than one strain.
Treatment may change according to which strain is being dealt
with

23. Genotypes: 6 strains of Hepatitis C Virus
• There are at least six major genotypes (a genetic
variation of the virus)
• In North America, HCV infections usually involve
genotype 1 virus, with genotypes 2 and 3
responsible for a smaller percentage of cases
• The genotype does not have a significant
influence on disease progression

24. There is no guarantee
that a
treatment, test, or
vaccine against one
strain will be effective
against all of them.
Moreover, individuals
cured of one strain
will be prone to
reinfection by any of
the other strains.

26. How should blood spills be cleaned
from surfaces to make sure that
Hepatitis C virus is gone?
Any blood spills - including dried
blood, which can still be infectious -
should be cleaned using a dilution of one
part household bleach to 10 parts water.
Gloves should be worn when cleaning up
blood spills.