There are three main types:
- Hepatitis A is caught through poor hygiene and infected food and water.
- Hepatitis B and C are both easily transmitted through blood (although B is also found in semen and saliva) and have become problems for people who share injecting equipment when using drugs.
Hepatitis B and C are easier to pass from one person to another than HIV, the virus that leads to AIDS.
People may have no symptoms of hepatitis when they first get infected, but can still infect others if they share injecting equipment. They might become quite ill, possibly many years later, and feel very tired with flu-like symptoms, vomiting, fever and jaundice.
To reduce the risk of hepatitis, injecting drug users (IDUs) are advised never to share injecting equipment with anyone else and to use needle exchange schemes.
Figures on the rate of hepatitis C varies. In England prevalence is estimated at 42% (2004 figs). In Wales prevalence is estimated at 18% (2003/04 figs). The prevalence in Scotland was estimated at 44% in 1999/2000 among IDU's who had undergone a voluntary HIV test.
Studies suggest it is rising among the general population and, in particular, among prisoners, where equipment sharing is common. (1.)
1. Source: Shooting Up Infections among injecting drug users in the United Kingdom 2004, updated October 2005; Health Protection Agency
Updated November 2005
