Hepatitis, or inflammation of the liver, is caused by viruses including Hepatitis A, B, C, D, E and G. Hepatitis can also be caused by alcohol, some chemicals or drugs.
Hepatitis B and C represent important public health issues. If not treated they can lead to serious liver disease, including cirrhosis, liver cancer and in some cases, liver failure.
Hepatitis A, B, C, D and E are notifiable infectious diseases. Medical practitioners must follow the guidelines for notification of infectious diseases when attending a patient with known or suspected hepatitis.
Hepatitis C
Hepatitis C is a blood-borne virus. Risk groups for hepatitis C include:
- people who currently or have ever injected drugs
- people who have ever been imprisoned; recipients of organs, tissues, blood or blood products (before February 1990 in Australia)
- people with tattoos or body piercings
- people born in countries with high hepatitis C prevalence
- Aboriginal people.
Effective new treatments (known as direct-acting antivirals or DAAs) for hepatitis C became available on the Pharmaceutical Benefits Scheme (PBS) in Australia on 1 March 2016.
Since then, other new hepatitis C treatments have become available on the PBS, including the first pan-genotypic treatment regimen which was listed from 1 August 2017.
The Silver book features current clinical guidelines for managing hepatitis C.
Treatment uptake reports
The Department of Health has prepared a report to describe Hepatitis C treatment uptake in Western Australia (PDF 187KB). The report outlines the number of people in Western Australia who initiated DAA treatment for chronic hepatitis and describes the period from 1 March to 30 September 2016.
The Department of Health will continue to monitor and report on uptake of the new treatments.
Hepatitis B
Hepatitis B is a blood-borne virus and can also be transmitted through sexual contact. Hepatitis B is vaccine preventable. Risk groups for hepatitis B include:
- people from countries with a high prevalence of hepatitis B
- Aboriginal people
- children born to mothers with hepatitis B
- people who inject drugs
- people in custodial settings
- other unvaccinated people who may be at higher risk of infection
The Silver book features current clinical guidelines for managing hepatitis B, including information about hepatitis B vaccination.
Patient information
Information for patients about Hepatitis is available from:
More information
Sexual Health and Blood-borne Virus Program
Address:
189 Royal Street, East Perth WA 6004
Phone: 9222 2355
Fax: 9222 0227
Email: SHBBVP@health.wa.gov.au