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Causes
In general, you get hepatitis C by coming in contact with blood contaminated with the virus. Most people with hepatitis C became infected through blood transfusions received before 1992, the year improved blood-screening tests became available.
You can also get the virus by injecting drugs with contaminated needles and, less commonly, from contaminated needles used in tattooing and body piercing. Needle exchange programs, which increase the availability of sterile needles, are helping to reduce the risk of hepatitis C, HIV and other blood-borne diseases.
A small number of babies born to mothers with hepatitis C acquire the infection during childbirth. Mother-to-infant transmission rates are higher among women infected with both hepatitis C and HIV. Talk with your doctor about these risks before becoming pregnant.
In rare cases, hepatitis C may be transmitted sexually. And in many people infected with hepatitis C, no risk factor can be identified.
