How can hepatitis c be contracted?
At one time, before 1990, the most common way that Hepatitis C was spread to others was believed to be by tainted blood used in transfusions. But then the medical community found a way to test blood for the HCV infection and this risk as all but been eliminated as a cause of this very infectious disease. Before this testing began the risk of contracting Hepatitis C from tainted blood was one in two hundred. The first tests, which began in 1990, were not great, giving off many false positives. Within two years new improved tests, more sensitive to what was being looked for lowered the odds of getting infected blood to one in one hundred thousand. Unfortunately there are many other ways that Hepatitis C can be passed from one infected person to another. Those in the community who are drug users are probably among the highest risk group. The sharing of any appliance or equipment used in taking drugs is one of the easiest methods of transferring this disease. That includes sharing needles
