Profile of blood donors in relation to hepatitis C

Abstract

Hepatitis C is among the main causes of chronic liver disease and can progress to conditions such as cirrhosis and hepato cellular carcinoma. Among the main risk factors for virus transmission are injecting drug use, occupational exposure, intravenous therapy and blood transfusion [1, 2]. Hepatitis C is of great importance for public health and health support services, since the infection may present asymptomatic for an extended period of time, besides the possibility of chronification, increasing the chances of transmission [3].