Test for Hepatitis C (HCV)

Hepatitis Home Testing Kits

    The Home Bio Hepatitis C test is an easy to use, accurate and reliable assay that will detect antibodies to the hepatitis C virus present in whole blood, serum or plasma.

    The test is easy to use and the result is available within minutes – in the privacy of your own home.

Accurate and Specific
    Our test kits are the same as those used by doctors and other healthcare professionals to screen for infection with hepatitis. The test is specific for hepatitis C and has an accuracy greater than 99.8%.

Performing the test
    You simply prick your finger, using the lancet provided, and transfer a few drops of your blood to the test cassette with the dropper provided. The easy to read result will develop after ten minutes and you will learn your hepatitis C status.

    The test comes with an easy to understand instruction sheet.

What is Hepatitis?
    Hepatitis is a potentially fatal disease of the liver which is caused by exposure to a virus. The infection is spread through the exchange of blood or other bodily fluids such as semen or vaginal fluid and so the disease can be transmitted during sexual contact (both heterosexual and homosexual sex) or through drug abuse by sharing needles. In the western world, these mechanisms represent the major transmission routes for young adults. Health care workers are at risk of contracting the disease in the workplace so it is imperative that proper hygiene measures are in place when treating patients that might have been exposed to the virus.

    Hepatitis literally means inflammation of the liver. The disease can be transmitted by several variants of the virus, most notably Hepatitis A; Hepatitis B and Hepatitis C although other forms exist. As Hepatitis A does not cause chronic liver disease or infection, it is of limited concern. Estimates suggest that 43 000 Americans will be infected with Hepatitis B and 17 000 will contract Hepatitis C each year – prevalence of the diseases are much higher in certain parts of the world; so travellers may be at increased risk.

    The incubation period for the virus is 90 days after which symptoms of the disease may appear, but the virus can be detected between 30 and 60 days following infection.

    In the USA, it is estimated that between 2000 and 4000 people die from contracting Hepatitis B and between 8000 and 10000 people die from contracting Hepatitis C every year. It may take from 20 to 30 years for Hepatitis C infection to prove fatal via liver cancer or cirrhosis. Hepatitis C is the most common blood borne infection in the USA with somewhere in the region of 3.2 million people suffering from chronic infection. Whilst it can be transmitted sexually, blood borne contact is a more efficient route for contamination and is often associated with intravenous drug abuse.