Hepatitis%20c Patient Education
Patient Education
Partner Notification
- Partner notification for at-risk contacts
- Contact tracing to include any sexual contact (penetrative vaginal or anal sex) or needle-sharing partners from 2 weeks before the onset of jaundice
- If without acute infection, trace back to the likely time of infection eg blood transfusion, 1st needle sharing
Patient Education
- Provide the patients with a detailed explanation of their condition
- Emphasize the disease’s long-term implications (eg long-term medical therapy, continuous monitoring for liver disease progression) for their and their partners’ health
- Counsel regarding the importance of treatment adherence, proper dosing administration, and reporting of medication changes
- Provide clear, accurate, written information
- Advise patient not to donate blood, semen or organs
- Advise patient to avoid sharing items of personal hygiene eg toothbrushes, shaving equipment
- Counsel patient to stop using illicit drugs
- Advise patient regarding sexual transmission
- HCV is not considered to be a sexually transmitted disease, but sexual promiscuity, HIV and herpes simplex virus (HSV-2) coinfections are associated with sexual transmission of hepatitis C
- Avoid unprotected sex during menstruation
- Advise patient regarding the potential deleterious effect of alcohol especially in association with development of HCC, progression of liver fibrosis and increase in HCV replication