Within the framework of World Hepatitis Day, Latin America recognized the actions taken by Mexico to eliminate hepatitis C virus (HCV) infection, according to the Ministry of Health.
The efforts of the National Hepatitis C Virus Elimination Program have paid off, with 22,748 people cured over the past 5 years through 2,356,000 screening tests.
The program facilitates timely detection, which is a determining factor, as it is estimated that in the country Four in every thousand people have hepatitis C, However, Most people don’t know they have it. The most common cause is when symptoms have already progressed.
Despite the fact that the disease can be tackled through prevention and diagnostic activities, it is also crucial to understand how the disease behaves and help reduce your own risk of developing it.
Most cases of hepatitis C can be cured with medication, so follow-up and medical tests are very useful for treatment if you have the virus.
What is hepatitis C?
he National Institute of Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Diseases point out that it is a Viral infection This can lead to liver damage and inflammation, which can damage the organ. Viruses invade normal cells in the body, and many of them cause infections that are spread from person to person. In the case of hepatitis C, It is spread through contact with the blood of infected patients. This is by parenteral injection, that is, through the use of a contaminated syringe.
The virus has an incubation period of two to six weeks.Its timely diagnosis can be complicated because Nearly 80% of those infected are asymptomatic. These include the following:
If left untreated, Can cause cirrhosis, liver failure, liver cancer Or bring high blood pressure, esophageal varices, encephalopathy, frequent gastrointestinal bleeding, thrombocytopenia, nerve and coagulation disorders and other complications.
The work of blood banks, awareness campaigns and prevention programs have successfully reduced large-scale infections. Even so, no vaccine For the prevention of C virus infection.