Hepatitis C team

Hepatitis C is a common blood borne virus (BBV) that can affect anyone and often does not have any symptoms. It is very easy to treat and cure and NHS England aim to eliminate it by 2025. For more information, please see the links below.

• Eastern Liver Network (opens in a new tab)
• The British Liver Trust (opens in a new tab)
• The Hep C Trust (opens in a new tab)

Anyone can catch Hepatitis C, but people in the following groups may be at higher risk:

• Had a needlestick or sharps injury?
• Vaccinations/dental/medical treatment (including cosmetic surgery) in countries outside of the UK?
• Ever injected drugs or steroids?
• Received blood clotting products before 1987 or had a blood transfusion or organ transplant before 1992?
• Ever shared any drug taking equipment?
• Ever lived with, or cared for someone who injected drugs or had Hep C?
• Had man to man sex or attended a Chemsex party?
• Had a tattoo or piercing that was home made or by an unlicensed practitioner?
• Ever lived in a children’s home, prison or residential school?
• Shard a razor/toothbrush hair/nail clippers?
• Attended a Botox party?
• Had sex with a man or woman who sells sex?
• Had any liver problems e.g. abnormal liver blood tests or alcoholic liver disease?
• Come from, or frequently visit a country with a higher rate of Hep C – Africa, Asia, The Caribbean, Central and South America, Eastern and Southern Europe, The Middle East, the Pacific Islands
• Been born to a mother who has Hep C?

If you think you might be in a risk group, you should be tested for HCV. Testing for HCV can be performed using:

• A finger prick test
• A mouth swab
• Venous blood sampling

Is there treatment for HCV?
Yes.

• Treatment cures 95% of people.
• Available for free on the NHS
• With tablets that are easy to take with very few side effects
• Short length of treatment (8 to 12 weeks)

Treatment is offered at an HCV clinic as close to you as possible.

If you have ongoing risk factors for HCV, you should be tested every six months. Otherwise, a single test is enough. Risk factors are given below.

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Text: 'Eastern Region Hepatitis C Team Information Video'

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Text: 'What is HCV and how is it caught?'

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Dr Will Gelson (Consultant Hepatologist): Hepatitis C, HCV or Hep C is a blood-borne virus which causes

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chronic liver disease for some people. This may lead to cirrhosis

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and in some, liver failure or liver cancer. Hep C is caught through

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exposure to contaminated blood, we have extremely effective tablet

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treatments for Hepatitis C with very few side effects that clear

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the virus in 95% of people who take them.

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Text: 'About the medication'

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Maddy Pollard (ODN Advanced Clinical Pharmacist): Treatment is generally well tolerated with very few side effects.

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Some people experience headache, nausea and difficulty sleeping,

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but they should settle down quite quickly. We treat the virus

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using direct acting antiviral tablets. These act directly against the virus

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and stop is replicating. Most treatment courses are one

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tablet, once a day for 8 to 12 weeks. If treatment is not effective

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there are other options and we can try different combinations

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of drugs and different course lengths.

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Text: 'The mobile testing unit'

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Rachael Bates (Hepatology Clinical Nurse Specialist): The van goes to a wide range of venues. We like to be accessible

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to everybody. Basically, anywhere there's large groups of people we

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like to take the van. So we have a number of tests available on the van

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that we can use and the first two are screening tests. We have Matrix,

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which is a finger prick test with a result in ten minutes, and then we have

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OraQuick test, which is an oral swab, just goes round the gum.

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You get a result from that in 30 minutes. We have blood

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taking equipment where we can get a really good view

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of the liver health in general, and we also are really lucky on

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our van, we have a Cepheid machine - this is again a finger print test and

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the result comes back from that in an hour, so we're then able

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to know, does that person actually need treatment.

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Text: 'About the treatment'

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Katie Eiloart (Community Hepatology Clinical Nurse Specialist): Treatment is available at Cambridge University Hospital.

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Also, in local drug and alcohol centres around the region. Patients will attend

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clinic every four weeks to collect further medication and have a

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blood test to check that the treatment is effective. Patients will be seen at

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an initial consultation to have bloods taken and a FibroScan.

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A FibroScan is a simple ultrasound that assesses for any liver scarring

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resulting from Hepatitis C. A further blood test is done

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at the end of treatment and then the patient is invited to come

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back 12 weeks post-treatment for a final blood test to check that

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the treatment has been successful.

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Text: 'Patient support'

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Charlotte Brown (Hep C Trust Peer Coordinator): We offer our patients ongoing support. This could be anything

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from transport, you know, they may need help to their first clinic appointment

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Anthony Meade (Hep C Trust Peer): People are offered telephone appointments, so I'll be calling

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people and reminding them of their appointment. Then I'll talk about

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the treatment and what that pathway would look like. I'll be discussing

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reinfection routes, what to expect at their appointment.

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Charlotte: And also, we may signpost them to other services to help them along their journey.

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Anthony: A lot of our staff have got shared Hep C experience, so we can help

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dispel fears through them knowing people are talking to you about Hep C.

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Sometimes that can be the key that will open the door for someone accessing treatment.

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Rachael: We're really proud to work collaboratively with other services

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such as the Vaccination Outreach Team, Drug and Alcohol Services, the

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TB Outreach Team, and sexual health. We've also worked in Mosques and we'll

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be at some of the PRIDE events. We've got a really busy time

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coming up with events and if you see us out and about, come and say hello.

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Text: 'Testing for HCV is simple and treatment is FREE'

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Text: 'For more information, visit the Eastern Liver website (opens in a new tab)'