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Counseling the Patient with Hepatitis C Infection

Last updated: January 17, 2013

Learning Objectives

After donating blood at a local blood drive, a 55-year-old man was notified that he tested positive on an antibody test for hepatitis C virus. He is upset about the test results, stating, "I don't know how I could have with hepatitis C. I only tried injecting drugs once or twice with my friends when I was in my 20's." He is very worried about how this may affect his health.

Which of the following statements would be appropriate for addressing some of his concerns?

	It is unlikely that he got infected with hepatitis C through injection drug use since that was years ago and occurred only for brief period of time.
	His test result indicates that he has chronic hepatitis C infection.
	Chronic hepatitis C infection can be associated with long term complications such as liver failure, cirrhosis, and liver cancer.
	Most individuals who have hepatitis C experience jaundice and flu-like symptoms from this infection.