Hepatitis C
Print page Send by email
Fact sheet - Health conditions directory
Hepatitis is a disease or inflammation of the liver. Hepatitis C infection is caused by the hepatitis c virus which is transmitted through blood to blood contact.
Hepatitis C is one of the most serious types of hepatitis. When a person is first infected with hepatitis C they may have short-term symptoms known as an acute infection. After the acute infection stage, most people do not get rid of the virus from their body. The virus stays in their body and may cause ongoing disease of the liver. This can cause long-term problems and is called chronic infection. People who have chronic infection can pass the infection on to other people. They are carriers of hepatitis C.
Public health management guidelines
- Read Queensland Health guidelines for public health units
- Read Communicable Diseases Network Australia Guidelines
Notification
Pathology laboratories
Notification resources
- List of all Pathological, clinical and provisional diagnosis notifiable conditions
- List of Public Health Unit contacts
- Notifiable conditions report form for Queensland doctors/clinicians (PHA S70) or person in charge of a Hospital (PHA S71) (PDF, 77kB) - if faxing notification, follow up by phone.
Enhanced surveillance for Public Health Units
- Case report form (newly acquired) (PDF, 279kB) - used by public health units to collect and manage more detailed information for enhanced case surveillance.
Clinical guidelines
Resources for health professionals
- Management of occupational exposure to blood and body fluids (PDF, 247kB) - this guideline provides the minimum recommended procedures for the immediate assessment, management and follow-up of individuals who have been exposed (or suspect they have been exposed) to blood borne viruses (BBV), and recommendations for initiation of post-exposure prophylaxis (PEP) in occupational settings.
- Hepatitis C information for Queensland's health professionals - includes links to the We need to talk about Hep C awareness campaign materials designed to encourage people to get tested for the condition.
Related information
- Accidental needle stick injury in public places - Queensland Health fact sheet for the general public.
Epidemiological data and reports
- View communicable diseases data for notifiable conditions in Queensland and blood borne viruses and sexually transmissible infections surveillance reports.
- The Kirby Institute usually reports annually on HIV, viral hepatitis
and sexually transmissible infections in Australia. The data, including full
data tables and charts as well as additional information, can be found on the
Kirby Institute's data site. Due to the ongoing
COVID-19 pandemic, data has been compiled into a national summary for
2009-2018.
