If you haven’t been cured yet, hep C can still impact on your life in many different ways, including:

  • discrimination and stigma,
  • disclosure (telling others),
  • worries about passing hep C onto others,
  • pregnancy and sex,
  • and if left unchecked or without treatment, hep C can cause serious health issues, including liver damage.

So read on, to learn more about how hep C may affect you and what to expect on your journey to becoming hep C free.

 

You may have been at risk of Hep C in the past

 

Many people living in Australia may have been at risk of hep C without knowing it. Listed below are the groups or communities that might be most at risk of hep C.  

  • People who have injected drugs or steroids.
  • People who have ever been in prison.
  • People who had blood transfusions, blood products or an organ transplant in Australia before Feb 1990.
  • People who have a tattoo or body piercing.
  • People who were born in  countries where hep C is common.
  • Men who have sex with men.
  • Anyone born to a mother who was hep C positive during pregnancy.
  • People who have had a needle-stick injury.
  • Aboriginal or Torres Strait Islander people.
  • People who have experienced homelessness.

 

If you identify with any of the groups above, you should think about asking the nurse for a hep C test. Listed below are the most common ways people can contract hep C:

  • Sharing or reusing other people’s needles or syringes (fits) or other injecting equipment.
  • Backyard or unprofessional tattooing with potentially unsafe equipment.
  • Backyard or unprofessional body piercings with potentially unsafe equipment.
  • Blood transfusions before 1990.
  • Unprotected sex, where blood might have been around.

 

How will hep C affect your day-to-day life?

 

If you are yet to be cured, living with hep C can affect your life in many ways. Some of those ways may be physical, some emotional and some practical. Mostly, you might begin to feel unwell and sick. See our online resources, below for more info.

If you or your partner are pregnant or are thinking of having a baby, read our pregnancy and babies factsheet (see below).

 

Do I need to tell anyone I have hep C?

 

Except for a few special situations, you don’t legally have to tell anyone that you are living with hep C. Phone the Hepatitis Infoline for more info.

Generally, who you tell is up to you. You might feel better if you talk about it with a trusted friend or relative, but you don’t ever have to tell them.

 

Hep C discrimination and stigma

 

Discrimination against you, because you are living with hep C, is never okay. If you are experiencing hep C related discrimination, phone the Hepatitis Infoline to speak to someone who can offer support and help you work out what to do next.

 

Find out more about hep C and you

 

If you want to talk with someone, phone the Hepatitis Infoline.

Or check out our online resources: 

Click here to check out our Hep C pregnancy & children factsheet >>
Click here to check out our C Change hep C brochure >>
Click here to check out our Hepatitis C – What You Need To Know booklet >>

Click here to check out our Yarnin’ About Hep C – a booklet about hep C for Aboriginal people >>

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This page last updated 18 Aug 2020

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