{"id":34758,"date":"2025-07-31T01:38:09","date_gmt":"2025-07-31T01:38:09","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/34758\/"},"modified":"2025-07-31T01:38:09","modified_gmt":"2025-07-31T01:38:09","slug":"nhs-urges-brits-to-test-for-infection-that-can-be-life-threatening-uk-news","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/34758\/","title":{"rendered":"NHS urges Brits to test for infection that can be ‘life-threatening’ | UK | News"},"content":{"rendered":"

The NHS is urging Brits to order a test for Hepatitis C to ensure that they don\u2019t have it.<\/p>\n

According to the NHS<\/a> website, Hepatitis C<\/a> is a virus that can infect the liver. If left untreated, it can sometimes cause serious and potentially life-threatening damage to the liver over many years.<\/p>\n

But with modern treatments, it’s usually possible to cure the infection, and most people with it will have a normal life expectancy. It’s estimated that around 118,000 people in the UK had chronic hepatitis C in 2019.<\/p>\n

You can become infected with it if you come into contact with the blood of an infected person.<\/p>\n

\u201cLots of people have hepatitis C without knowing it. If untreated, it can damage your liver and can sometimes lead to life-threatening conditions,\u201d the NHS in an Instagram<\/a> post on its official page.<\/p>\n

The post continued: \u201cIf you\u2019re worried you may be at risk of hepatitis C, you can order a free and confidential test online.<\/p>\n

\u201cSearch ‘hep C test NHS’ to find out more information and order a test\u201d.<\/p>\n

What are the symptoms of Hepatitis C?<\/p>\n

Hepatitis C often does not have any noticeable symptoms until the liver has been significantly damaged.<\/p>\n

This means many people have the infection without realising it.<\/p>\n

When symptoms do occur, they can be mistaken for another condition.<\/p>\n

Symptoms can include:<\/p>\n

Flu-like symptoms, such as muscle aches and a high temperature (fever)<\/p>\n

Feeling tired all the time<\/p>\n

Loss of appetite<\/p>\n

Stomach ache<\/p>\n

Feeling and being sick<\/p>\n

The only way to know for certain if these symptoms are caused by hepatitis C is to get tested.<\/p>\n

How do you get it?\u00a0<\/p>\n

The hepatitis C virus is usually spread through blood-to-blood contact.<\/p>\n

Some ways the infection can be spread include:<\/p>\n

Sharing unsterilised needles \u2013 particularly needles used to inject recreational drugs<\/p>\n

Sharing razors or toothbrushes<\/p>\n

From a pregnant woman to her unborn baby<\/p>\n

Through unprotected sex, although this is very rare<\/p>\n

In the UK, most hepatitis C infections happen in people who inject drugs or have injected them in the past.<\/p>\n

It’s estimated that around half of those who inject drugs have been infected with the virus.<\/p>\n

How do you get tested for Hepatitis C?<\/p>\n

Seek medical advice if you have persistent symptoms of hepatitis C or there’s a risk you’re infected, even if you do not have any symptoms.<\/p>\n

A blood test can be carried out to see if you have the infection. You can do a finger-prick test at home to find out if you have hepatitis C, which the NHS recommends in their Instagram<\/a> post.<\/p>\n

GPs, sexual health clinics, genitourinary medicine (GUM) clinics, or drug treatment services also offer testing for hepatitis C.<\/p>\n

Early diagnosis and treatment can help prevent or limit any damage to your liver, as well as help ensure the infection is not passed on to other people.<\/p>\n

Hepatitis C can be treated with medicines that stop the virus from multiplying inside the body. These usually need to be taken for several weeks.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"The NHS is urging Brits to order a test for Hepatitis C to ensure that they don\u2019t have…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":34759,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[10],"tags":[59,102,20738,20739,20740,104,20742,20741,20743,56,54,55],"class_list":["post-34758","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-health","tag-gb","tag-health","tag-hepatitis-c","tag-hepatitis-c-symptoms","tag-hepatitis-c-test","tag-nhs","tag-nhs-appointment","tag-nhs-instagram","tag-nhs-test","tag-uk","tag-united-kingdom","tag-unitedkingdom"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/34758","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=34758"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/34758\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/34759"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=34758"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=34758"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=34758"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}