Skip to content 
Conclusion
Hepatitis C is similar to hepatitis B in many ways. One of them is that sexual transmission of the disease is possible, sometimes very likely. The chance of getting hepatitis C after having sex with an infected patient is not as high as hepatitis B. But there’s still a chance, especially in immunocompromised patients. Other risk factors to get infected are having sexually transmitted diseases, suffering from genital or rectal bleeding, practicing unsafe sex, and engaging in other high-risk sexual behaviors.
The infection happens because we have cells in the rectal and genital mucosa in charge of capturing pathogens and presenting them to white blood cells. But in the case of the hepatitis C virus, it sometimes survives and gets transported into the liver. This can happen to us all, but it is more common if you have a condition that weakens your immune system.
Preventing hepatitis C is possible by practicing safe sex and taking care of your sexually-transmitted diseases. Testing for hepatitis C is essential for immunocompromised patients, but sometimes healthy patients get infected with HIV and then hepatitis C without realizing it. These patients may bear false-negative tests of hepatitis C for months, and sometimes more than a year. In this time, they keep on transmitting the disease sexually to their new sexual partners.
References
Nijmeijer, B. M., Koopsen, J., Schinkel, J., Prins, M., & Geijtenbeek, T. B. (2019). Sexually transmitted hepatitis C virus infections: current trends, and recent advances in understanding the spread in men who have sex with men. Journal of the international aids society, 22, e25348.
Ghany, M. G., Morgan, T. R., & AASLD‐IDSA Hepatitis C Guidance Panel. (2020). Hepatitis C guidance 2019 update: American Association for the Study of Liver Diseases–Infectious Diseases Society of America recommendations for testing, managing, and treating hepatitis C virus infection. Hepatology, 71(2), 686-721.
Page, E. E., & Nelson, M. (2016). Hepatitis C and sex. Clinical Medicine, 16(2), 189.
Rockstroh, J. K. (2020). Hepatitis C Micro-elimination in Human Immunodeficiency Virus–Coinfected Men Who Have Sex With Men: A Low Hanging Fruit?. Clinical Infectious Diseases.
