Hepatitis C

How can you get hepatitis C?

Hepatitis C is found in blood, poo, and sperm. The disease is most common among men with HIV or men who use PrEP. 

You can get hepatitis C through:

• Anal sex without a condom if you are bottoming
• Sharing sex toys
• Fisting or getting fisted without gloves
• Not washing and disinfecting properly your forearms after fisting
• Blood-to-blood contact, for example when injecting drugs
• Sharing straws or other objects used to snort drugs
• A sling or mattress

Read more about hepatitis C transmission at NoMoreC.nl.

At first, you might not notice that you have hepatitis C. As a result, you pass on the STD without even knowing. 

You are more at risk for hepatitis C if you:

• Have sex on drugs  (chemsex)
• Have group sex or go to sex parties

What are the symptoms of hepatitis C?

Usually, hepatitis C does not cause symptoms. If you do get symptoms, that often happens between 2 and 26 weeks after infection. 

You could have these symptoms:

• Lack of appetite
• Nausea and vomiting
• Feeling very tired
• Flu-like symptoms
• Fever
• Stomach ache
• Jaundice: the whites of your eyes become yellow. Yellowish skin
• Pee as dark as cola and sometimes pale poo

Other symptoms? 

Do you have other symptoms? They could be caused by something else. So it’s important to go to your GP or to the GGD. Don’t wait too long and make an appointment.

Check out the symptoms of other STDs

Getting tested for hepatitis C

If you have various sex partners, you should get tested for HIV and STDs 2 times a year. You should also do this if your steady partner has multiple sex partners. 

The hepatitis C test is not automatically included. This is only the case if you use PrEP or have HIV. So you need to arrange it separately. You should absolutely get tested for hepatitis C in these cases:

• If you ran an additional risk of hepatitis C
• If you have symptoms that could be caused by hepatitis C
• If you had sex with someone who has hepatitis C
• If you were at the same sex party as someone with hepatitis C. Even if you didn’t have sex with them

Where can you get tested?

You can get tested for hepatitis C at the GGD, but only if you use PrEP. Or if you risked getting hepatitis C. Otherwise, you can also get tested via your GP’s. The cost is included in your health insurance (in Dutch ‘eigen risico’).  

From when can you get tested?

You can get tested from 3 months after you ran a risk of hepatitis C. Sometimes, the doctor can use a special test which can detect hepatitis C after only 2 weeks. 

How is a test done?

A hepatitis C test goes like this:

• The doctor or nurse uses a needle to take a blood sample from your arm
• The blood is examined in the lab

Usually, after a couple of days you get your result.

Treating hepatitis C

You can get medication against hepatitis C. It comes in pills. With this treatment, the virus will go away.

Preventing hepatitis C

This is how you can reduce your chances of getting or passing on hepatitis C: 

• Use latex gloves for fisting
• Use condoms
• Do not share sex toys with others. Or clean them thoroughly before using them. Read how to do this
• Between dates, clean thoroughly the place where you have sex. Read how to do this
• Do you have group sex? Wash your penis with water and soap before switching partners
• Do not share objects used to take drugs with others

More about preventing hepatitis C