Medical History for Hepatitis C

Topic Overview

Your doctor may ask questions about your general health and lifestyle. You may feel uncomfortable answering some of these questions. But truthful answers are important to help your doctor determine whether you have or are at risk for hepatitis C infection.

• What are your symptoms, and how long have you had them?
• Do you now or did you ever share needles when injecting drugs?
• Do you come in contact with blood or used needles in your work?
• Do you live with anyone who is known to have hepatitis C?
• Did you ever or are you currently having your blood filtered by a machine (hemodialysis)?
• Do you have a blood-clotting disorder, such as hemophilia, and did you receive clotting factor concentrates before 1987? Since 1987, clotting factor concentrates have been treated to kill hepatitis C viruses (HCV). So this now is rarely a source of HCV infection.
• Have you ever received blood, blood products, or a solid organ (kidney, liver, or pancreas) from a donor? In 1992, screening of all blood, blood products, and donor organs for HCV became a requirement, making transfusion and organ transplants rare causes of infection.
• Did you receive a letter telling you that you received blood from a donor who later tested positive for hepatitis C?
• Do you have HIV, or have you been tested for HIV?
• Were you born in the years from 1945 to 1965? Experts recommend that all adults born in those years should be tested for hepatitis C.^{footnote 1, footnote 2} People in this age group are more likely to have hepatitis C and not know it.