to become infected with hepatitis c virus the blood of an infected person enters the body of someone who is not infected. the most common ways this occurs include sharing needles or other equipment used to inject drugs needle-stick injuries in a health care setting or getting infected as a result of birth from a mother with hepatitis c. it is also possible but less likely to become infected with shared use of personal care items such as toothbrushes and razors. infection is also possible through sexual contact with an infected person. the risk increases with the more sex partners you have the presence of sexually transmitted disease hiv infection and rough sex. hepatitis c is not spread by casual contact kissing coughing sneezing sharing utensils or breastfeeding. other people with greater risk of infection include: people with tattoos or body piercing done with non-sterile equipment. people who received an organ transplant or blood transfusion before july 1992. people with clotting problems who took blood products prior to 1987. people receiving hemodialysis or who have a history of hemodialysis for kidney failure. people with hiv infection. since july 1992 all blood and organ donations in the u. s. are screened for the hepatitis c virus. according to the cdc the number of hepatitis c infections declined by 90% from 1994 to 2006 partially as a result of this.
what are risk factors for chronic hepatitis c?