{"id":305606,"date":"2025-07-31T03:40:14","date_gmt":"2025-07-31T03:40:14","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/305606\/"},"modified":"2025-07-31T03:40:14","modified_gmt":"2025-07-31T03:40:14","slug":"nhs-urges-brits-to-test-for-infection-that-can-be-life-threatening-uk-news","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/305606\/","title":{"rendered":"NHS urges Brits to test for infection that can be &#8216;life-threatening&#8217; | UK | News"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>The NHS is urging Brits to order a test for Hepatitis C to ensure that they don\u2019t have it.<\/p>\n<p>According to the <a data-link-tracking=\"InArticle|Link\" href=\"https:\/\/www.express.co.uk\/latest\/nhs\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">NHS<\/a> website, <a data-link-tracking=\"InArticle|Link\" href=\"https:\/\/www.express.co.uk\/life-style\/health\/1055307\/hepatitis-symptoms-what-is-hepatitis-c-treatment-cure-virus-infection\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">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<p>But with modern treatments, it&#8217;s usually possible to cure the infection, and most people with it will have a normal life expectancy. It&#8217;s estimated that around 118,000 people in the UK had chronic hepatitis C in 2019.<\/p>\n<p data-mce-linkchecker-status=\"valid\">You can become infected with it if you come into contact with the blood of an infected person.<\/p>\n<p data-mce-linkchecker-status=\"valid\">\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 <a href=\"https:\/\/www.express.co.uk\/latest\/instagram\" data-link-tracking=\"InArticle|AutoLink\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Instagram<\/a> post on its official page.<\/p>\n<p>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<p>\u201cSearch &#8216;hep C test NHS&#8217; to find out more information and order a test\u201d.<\/p>\n<p>What are the symptoms of Hepatitis C?<\/p>\n<p>Hepatitis C often does not have any noticeable symptoms until the liver has been significantly damaged.<\/p>\n<p>This means many people have the infection without realising it.<\/p>\n<p>When symptoms do occur, they can be mistaken for another condition.<\/p>\n<p>Symptoms can include:<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>\n<p>Flu-like symptoms, such as muscle aches and a high temperature (fever)<\/p>\n<\/li>\n<li>\n<p>Feeling tired all the time<\/p>\n<\/li>\n<li>\n<p>Loss of appetite<\/p>\n<\/li>\n<li>\n<p>Stomach ache<\/p>\n<\/li>\n<li>\n<p>Feeling and being sick<\/p>\n<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>The only way to know for certain if these symptoms are caused by hepatitis C is to get tested.<\/p>\n<p>How do you get it?\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>The hepatitis C virus is usually spread through blood-to-blood contact.<\/p>\n<p>Some ways the infection can be spread include:<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>\n<p>Sharing unsterilised needles \u2013 particularly needles used to inject recreational drugs<\/p>\n<\/li>\n<li>\n<p>Sharing razors or toothbrushes<\/p>\n<\/li>\n<li>\n<p>From a pregnant woman to her unborn baby<\/p>\n<\/li>\n<li>\n<p>Through unprotected sex, although this is very rare<\/p>\n<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>In the UK, most hepatitis C infections happen in people who inject drugs or have injected them in the past.<\/p>\n<p>It&#8217;s estimated that around half of those who inject drugs have been infected with the virus.<\/p>\n<p>How do you get tested for Hepatitis C?<\/p>\n<p>Seek medical advice if you have persistent symptoms of hepatitis C or there&#8217;s a risk you&#8217;re infected, even if you do not have any symptoms.<\/p>\n<p>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 <a href=\"https:\/\/www.express.co.uk\/latest\/instagram\" data-link-tracking=\"InArticle|AutoLink\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Instagram<\/a> post.<\/p>\n<p>GPs, sexual health clinics, genitourinary medicine (GUM) clinics, or drug treatment services also offer testing for hepatitis C.<\/p>\n<p>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<p>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&hellip;\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":305607,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[11],"tags":[105,112339,112340,112341,211,112343,112342,112344,16,15],"class_list":{"0":"post-305606","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-health","8":"tag-health","9":"tag-hepatitis-c","10":"tag-hepatitis-c-symptoms","11":"tag-hepatitis-c-test","12":"tag-nhs","13":"tag-nhs-appointment","14":"tag-nhs-instagram","15":"tag-nhs-test","16":"tag-uk","17":"tag-united-kingdom"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@uk\/114945774324779918","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/305606","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=305606"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/305606\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/305607"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=305606"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=305606"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=305606"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}