Hepatitis C factsheet

Introduction

Hepatitis C is a virus that causes inflammation of the liver.

The hepatitis C virus is spread by blood-to-blood contact. This is when the blood of someone with hepatitis C, enters your child’s blood stream.

In children and teenagers, HCV can be spread through:

sharing needles
getting tattoos or piercings with equipment that is not sterile or free of germs
receiving a blood transfusion in countries with high rates of HCV
sexual contact
vertical transmission – when HCV is passed from mother to baby during pregnancy or birth.

Signs and symptoms

Hepatitis C infection usually does not cause any symptoms in children. Even though there are no symptoms, hepatitis C can cause advanced liver disease as your child gets older.

If there are symptoms, they may start slowly a few months after infection and can include:

loss of appetite
loss of energy
stomach pain around the liver, on the upper right side
vomiting
fever and rash
jaundice - yellow skin and eyes.
dark urine and pale or white poo
painful or swollen joints.

Symptoms can be worse in children with lower immune systems or liver disease. Your child is considered infectious with hepatitis C:

1-2 weeks before they show any symptoms
until the virus is managed with medication.

Diagnosis

Lack of symptoms in children can make hepatitis C difficult to diagnose. Your child’s doctor will be able to make a diagnosis based on any symptoms that do show and blood tests.

Hepatitis C tests should be done for children and teenagers who:

are born to a mother with hepatitis C
have symptoms of hepatitis or have unexplained abnormal liver tests
have come into contact with a dirty or used needle
have had sexual contact.

Treatment

Most children will recover from the virus within weeks or months.

Treatment is focussed on relieving symptoms, reducing the spread, and preventing complications. Treatment should include:

rest
eating small meals more often
drinking fluids
reviewing medications that affect the liver with your child's doctor
avoiding alcohol.

Children who have the virus longer than six months can develop chronic hepatitis C.

Chronic hepatitis C can put your child at risk of liver scarring, liver failure and liver cancer.

Children with chronic hepatitis C will need to:

have general health and liver checks every 6-12 months
take anti-viral medicines
eat a healthy diet and exercise to keep their liver healthy
avoid drinking alcohol and taking drugs.

Management

Prevention

Currently, there is no immunisation available to protect against hepatitis C.

Preventing hepatitis C means avoiding risky behaviours that can put children and adolescents in contact with infected blood.

These include:

making sure that tattoo and piercing needles are new and sterilised
avoiding contact with blood
not sharing razors, toothbrushes, and sharp grooming tools like nail clippers.

If your teenager is sexually active, they should use condoms and talk to their doctor or local sexual health service about being safe.

Children should be immunised against other hepatitis viruses like hepatitis A and B.

Hepatitis C cannot be spread from other children playing together or in the classroom or from general contact like kissing and cuddling.

Pregnancy and breastfeeding

You can safely breastfeed your infant even if you have hepatitis C.

Avoid breastfeeding and speak to your doctor as soon as possible if your nipples are cracked and/or bleeding and you have hepatitis C.

Blood awareness and safety

If you or your child has hepatitis C, your family should practise blood awareness. This means being careful around you for example when you treat a wound or bite and knowing how to manage bleeding safely.

Tips for blood awareness and safety include:

not sharing things like toothbrushes and razors with others
using disposable gloves when cleaning up any blood or bodily fluids
cleaning spills that involve body fluids with paper towel before cleaning with detergent and cold water or bleach.

You are not required by law to inform schools and day care that your child has hepatitis B. Schools and day care should always practise standard precautions when dealing with blood and body fluids from any child in their care. This means that they should treat every child’s bodily fluid like it is infectious.

If you have ever had hepatitis C, you will not be able to donate blood.