Hepatitis C is an infectious disease that already affects 900,000 people in Spain and forecasts point to an upturn in the disease between 2020 and 2030. And, most worryingly, of these 900,000, 500,000 are unaware that they have this disease, according to data from the Spanish Association for the Study of the Liver (AEHH).
Hepatitis is a disease without symptoms and the leading cause of cirrhosis and liver cancer. Its detection is achieved with a simple blood test, but it is necessary to ensure that the population, especially those at greatest risk of acquiring it, go to their doctor to have this test.
For this reason, the informative campaign A simple gesture can change your life has been launched. As explained by the secretary of the AEEH, Dr. José Luis Calleja, this campaign “is specifically aimed at informing patients, so that those with risk factors can take a blood screening test and reach a diagnosis in a simple way”.
How hepatitis is transmitted
The main ways in which hepatitis is transmitted are the sharing of syringes during drug use, accidental pricks with equipment that has been used by those affected by the disease, unsterilized needles (including tattoo and piercing needles), as well as sharing earrings, razor blades or toothbrushes. It is also transmitted from mother to child during childbirth and through unprotected sex with an infected person.