{"id":12755,"date":"2019-09-23T00:00:00","date_gmt":"2019-09-23T00:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/1millionbestdownloads.com\/condition-hepatitis-c-hepatitis-c-vaccine\/"},"modified":"2019-09-23T00:00:00","modified_gmt":"2019-09-23T00:00:00","slug":"condition-hepatitis-c-hepatitis-c-vaccine","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/1millionbestdownloads.com\/condition-hepatitis-c-hepatitis-c-vaccine\/","title":{"rendered":"Why Isn't There a Hepatitis C Vaccine—And When Can You Expect One?"},"content":{"rendered":"
Most people get vaccinated against so many diseases as a child that it can be easy to assume you’ve received vaccines for practically everything. Unfortunately, that’s not the case, and some infections still pose a threat.<\/p>\n Take hepatitis C<\/a>, for instance, an infection that can attack your liver and inflammation and even liver damage in some cases. The hepatitis C virus can lead to serious and even life-threatening complications, but it doesn't have a vaccine, which begs the question: Why—and will there ever be one?<\/p>\n Health<\/em> spoke with infectious disease specialists to find out more about hepatitis C<\/a> transmission, the likeliness of a future vaccine, and what you can do to protect yourself in the meantime.<\/p>\n RELATED: How Do You Get Hepatitis C? Here's What You Need to Know<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n Hepatitis is, essentially, inflammation of the liver, and when your liver is inflamed or damaged, it won’t function the way it should, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention<\/a> (CDC)—which means that it may not help your body digest food, store energy, and remove poisons the way it's meant to.<\/p>\n There are three major forms of hepatitis that are more common in the US: hepatitis A, B, and C—each of which is spread through a different virus. It can also be caused by drug or alcohol use, per the US National Library of Medicine (NLM).<\/p>\n Hepatitis C in particular can be divided into two categories: acute and chronic. Acute hepatitis C happens within the first six months after you’re exposed to the hepatitis C virus, the CDC says, and some people's bodies are able to fight off the infection—symptoms of which can include dark yellow urine, fatigue, fever, and jaundice.<\/p>\n But even the acute version of hepatitis C can lead to a chronic infection for up to 85 percent of people who are infected, per CDC data. Chronic hepatitis C can be a lifelong illness that can cause severe health problems<\/a>, including liver damage, cirrhosis, liver cancer, and death, says infectious disease expert Amesh A. Adalja, M.D., senior scholar at the Johns Hopkins Center for Health Security. It's estimated that 2.7 to 3.9 million people in the US alone have chronic hepatitis C—many of whom don't know they have the virus, per the National Institute of Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Diseases<\/a> (NIDDK), since the chronic version doesn't typically cause symptoms until complications occur.<\/p>\n Generally speaking, people become infected with hepatitis C through blood-to-blood contact with an infected person—that can include blood transfusions, organ transplants, and IV drug use, says Dr. Adalja. Less commonly, the CDC says you can get hepatitis C through sharing personal care items that may have come into contact with an infected person’s blood, like razors or toothbrushes; having sexual contact with someone infected with hepatitis C; being born to a mother with hepatitis C; or getting a tattoo or piercing with an infected needle.<\/p>\nWhat is hepatitis C, again? <\/h2>\n