Hepatitis C: mental health issues.

When your physicians contacted public health authorities and medical directors of blood collection agencies, they would have been advised that hepatitis C was not known to be the cause of any serious illness, so patients should be reassured. But patients needed to know much more: What was hepatitis C? How did they get it? Should they start using condoms with their spouses of 12 years? Would they become ill from this? What symptoms should they watch out for? Were there other tests they should have? Are there any treatments they should start? Were their children at risk?. . . We did not have, and could not obtain , information regarding the medical implications of testing positive for the hepatitis C virus. We had little to guide us in our attempts to offer support. One woman commented, "Having hepatitis means that many things change, and a lot of them are invisible. Unlike having cancer or being hurt in an accident, most people do not