any information for hep c

hi every one .. i am new to all of this my 25 yr old son was diganoised yesterday with hep c he is a good man stays at home helps me out and dont run around 7 yrs ago he had 2 life threating accidents with in 6 months of each other

after that he straightened himself out and settled down only to meet up with a woman that lied about everything that came out of her mouth she gave my son hep c because she is a needle junkie and had this for a year before telling my son

so now here we are there telling us at this point he has no liver damage some tells us there are cures some says there are not they have sent us to a contagioues disease doc

can anyone tell me what comes next what should i look for what should i ask what can we expect any replys is greatly appreciated

sad thing is he has never used drugs his accidents were alcohol related he swore that off and never touched anything after that and he gets this from someone  that has lied about everything to him please any info is appreciated

[nygirl7]

HepC is not really sexually contagious, in fact it's very rare and most couples never pass it to their spouses.  Now HIV is spread sexually so he is at least lucky this 'lying needle junkie' did not give him that one.

You should take him to a heptologist that is what is next.

[nygirl7]

PS They can't know he has no liver damage unless they did a biopsy?

[willbb]

Hi there...sorry to hear about you sons diagnosis. Did the dr. do a PCR test to confirm the active infection of HCV ,and as far as liver damage..that can only be confirmed by a liver biopsy... was he diagnosed by a primary care dr.or a liver dr(hepatologist) ?

[Trinity4]

It's very possible he told you he never did IV drugs when in fact he did.  It's highly unlikely he contracted hepc if he was given a blood transfusion 7 years ago due to the life threatening accidents because the blood supply has been monitored for HCV since
1992.  

The risk of sexual transmission of Hepatitis C within heterosexual monogamous couples is extremely low or even null.  The risk increases when mucosa is damaged from potentially vigorous sexual techniques such as anal intercourse, fisting and use of certain sex toys.  

Hepatitis C is a blood borne disease.  Infected blood MUST enter the bloodstream for infection to occur.

Trinity

  

[Diane12855]

Trinity is right in all cases.

As parents, we want to believe that our kids would never do some things, especially if they tell us they never did... but I know I didn't tell my mom everything I did in my 20s and you probably didn't either. Don't worry about that part any more. Now the most important thing is to get him to a doctor that has treated many people with HCV. If he just got infected he has a long time before there is much damage, but you can't know that for sure until he gets a biopsy.

Diane

[James10500]

Read this

http://www.hcvadvocate.org/hepatitis/factsheets_pdf/Newly%20Diagnosed_10.pdf

[kittyface]

Did you know that people are still contracting HCV and God knows what else from transfusions?  I met someone who contracted it in 2002, 10 years after they started screening it.  The truth is they can't screen out 100% and then there's human error to boot.  Very scary indeed!  

I will never ever get another blood transfusion with outside blood.  In fact I'm so paranoid about the sterility of medical supplies I **** off health care workers.

KF  

[Trinity4]

Yes, I know that contamination still occurs, but very rarely.  But mskaggs51 insists her son was infected from a "lying needle junkie" (her words -  not mine) and never did drugs so is one to assume he was not infected prior to his relationship with her?  There in lies the question.

If I SVR and have the ill fortune of needing a blood transfusion I have no reservations about receiving it and I find that rather ironic since the mode of HCV transmission in my case was transfusion.

Trinity

[kittyface]

Trinity, you have more courage than I do in playing the odds.

For those of you that are upset that Red Cross officials knowingly dispense tainted blood in the past and today you may want to lend support the lady (Estile) who posted this thread:

http://www.medhelp.org/posts/Hepatitis-C/Blood-Transfusion-related-Hepatitis-C/show/1393815?personal_page_id=1881976#post_6460221

Her daughter contracted HCV through tainted blood at age 2 and died at 16.  She is taking legal action and attempting to testify before Congress.  Estile requests that those who contracted HCV via transfusion be counted so she can build a case.  Please contact her if you're so inclined.

Best,
KF

KF