Who is at risk for hepatitis C?
Some people are at increased risk for hepatitis C, including • Current injection drug users (currently the most common way hepatitis C virus is spread in the United States) • Past injection drug users, including those who injected only one time or many years ago • Recipients of donated blood, blood products, and organs (once a common means of transmission but now rare in the United States since blood screening became available in 1992) • People who received a blood product for clotting problems made before 1987 • Hemodialysis patients or persons who spent many years on dialysis for kidney failure • People who received body piercing or tattoos done with non-sterile instruments • People with known exposures to the hepatitis C virus, such as • Healthcare workers injured by needlesticks • Recipients of blood or organs from a donor who tested positive for the hepatitis C virus • HIV-infected persons • Children born to mothers infected with the hepatitis C virus Less common risks include: •
