Transmission Magazine ED02

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EDITOR Scott West

EDITORIAL COMMITTEE Tim Baxter Kay Bazley Sallie Cairnduff Jenny Douglas Conor Durkin Paul Harvey Rebecca Miers Sonam Paljor Ronald Prince Gideon Warhaft

CONTRIBUTING WRITERS Jennifer Mills www.jenjen.com.au

CONTRIBUTING ARTISTS Marty Schneider www.martyschneider.com.au

Jo Waite

The Hepatitis C Council of NSW is an independent, community-based, non-profit, membership organisation.

We are funded by the NSW Health Department ph: (02) 9332 1853 fax: (02) 9332 1730 www.hepatitisc.org.au postal address: PO Box 432

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DARLINGHURST NSW 1300 AUSTRALIA

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contents

page 6

Testing 1, 2

page 14

What is a virus?

page 16

A Dummies Guide to

finding out what tests are what?

page 22

Deb & Wayne

page 30

Question & Answer

Aside from HCCNSW editorial comment, views expressed in this magazine or flyers enclosed with it, are not necessarily those of the Hepatitis C Council of NSW. Neither are such views necessarily those of our funding bodies.

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To everybody who sent in text messages and entered the competition to name the magazine.

It was great to receive so many entries.

We decided on the name ...

WHY? One dictionary we read said: Transmission = The act of sending a message; causing a message to be transmitted

Transmission = The passing of a disease or virus from one person to another

we thought it was an appropriate & catchy name We want to deliver useful information and messages about hepatitis to you in every edition

of and want you our readers to be involved!

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we want you to put your thinking cap on yo u could earn

if we pu bli sh yo ur sc rip t Comic strips are an important part of We would love to hear your ideas for stories about hepatitis that we could use to write a comic script.

They could be your own personal stories or they could be made up.

We would need the script to be 1 x A4 page as a story that we could use to make a script or you could sketch out a ‘storyboard’ like these ones.

to find out more info sms: 0404 440 103

ph: 1800 803 990

transmission@hepatitisc.org.au TRANSMISSION

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from edition 1

the story continues in ...

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what is a virus?

Viruses are tiny organisms that can infect living things like plants, animals and humans. They are so small you need a microscope to see one.

A ‘host’ is what a virus lives in.

Our bodies are a good host for viruses.

Most viruses won’t survive very long unless they have a host.

what is a blood borne virus?

A Blood Borne Virus (BBV) is a virus that lives in your blood.

Blood borne viruses are passed through Common blood borne viruses are

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‘Blood to Blood contact’

Hepatitis B, Hepatitis C and HIV/AIDS

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what does

‘Blood to Blood contact’

mean?

It happens when blood comes out of one person’s bloodstream and goes into someone else’s bloodstream.

Hep C is a blood borne virus, meaning it lives in blood and is passed on when the blood of a person who has hep C goes into another person’s bloodstream.

Some examples of blood to blood contact are when equipment gets shared during ...

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g n i t s e t C s i t i t a p e h *

dummy a t o n e ’r u o y w o * we kn

a guide to

finding out what tests are what!?

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Last edition we talked about getting tested for hepatitis C

This time around we will help you through the confusion of what some of the different tests are and why they are important.

There are a number of tests that can be done to see what is happening with your liver.

The most common ones that you will hear about include

LIVER FUNCTION TEST (LFT) HEP C ANTIBODY TEST PCR TEST TRANSMISSION

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test number 1

A liver function test (LFT) is a simple blood test that keeps an eye on the condition of your liver.

it will not tell you if you have the hep C virus.

This test looks for levels of enzymes in your liver.

A liver function test will tell you if your levels are normal or if they are high. This will indicate if there is any inflammation of your liver.

If you have hep C it is important to have liver function tests regularly, to check what is happening in your liver over a period of time.

Your liver function numbers can go up and down depending on things like how much alcohol you drink, your diet and other medications or drugs you might be taking.

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test number 2

A hep C antibody test is a simple blood test and is normally the first screening test for hep C.

it WILL NOT tell you if you have the hep C virus.

An antibody test will tell you if you have been ‘exposed’ to the hep C virus.

If it comes back positive, it means you have been exposed at some point but it doesnt tell you if you still have it. To find out if you still have the virus you need to have a PCR test.

25% of people clear hep C naturally. This means they got rid of the virus but they will still have antibodies.

It may take 6 months for antibodies to show in your blood, this is called a “window period”.

If you think you might have put yourself at risk of getting hep C recently, it is a good idea to have another antibody test in 6 months time which will give the virus enough time to show up in your system.

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who should have a hep c antibody test? you should think about it if ...

• you have ever injected drugs • you have ever been in prison • you received blood products before 1990 • you have ever had tattoos or piercings done in prison or the ‘backyard’ • you were born in an overseas country that has a lot of hep C infections • you have had a needlestick injury

talk to a doctor or the hep c helpline to find out more about hep c antibody tests

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test number 3

A PCR (Polymerase Chain Reaction) test

WILL tell you if you have the actual hep C virus.

There are 3 different types of PCR Test you can have

1 - PCR Detection Test will tell you if you have the hep C virus.

2 - PCR Viral Load test will tell you how much of the virus you have in your blood.

3 - PCR Genotype test will tell you which strain (genotype) of hep C you have.

this can be very confusing stuff if you need to know more talk to a doctor or the hep c helpline (ph: 1800 803 990) TRANSMISSION

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Q uestion & A nswer ?????????????? do you have a question about hep C that you are too afraid to ask?

send it into us!

Q

A

we would love to clear up any myths or rumours about hep C. no question is too silly and we will include some of them in the magazine for everybody else to read.

“ how many people in australia have hep c? �

In Australia over 1 in every 100 people have hep C. More than 278,000 people in Australia have been exposed to hep C. Around 106,000 people in NSW have been diagnosed with hep C. It is estimated there are about 10,000 new cases of hep C every year. About 40% of these cases are in NSW as well.

send your questions to us sms: 0404 440 103

ph: 1800 803 990

transmission@hepatitisc.org.au

if your question is urgent call the hep c helpline ph: 1800 803 990 (freecall) TRANSMISSION

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freecall from prison 12/06/2009 4:15:21 PM

just by s *gift voucher u g n i l l e t ! k n i h t u o y what we would love to know ...

1. what your favourite part of the magazine is 2. things you do not like about the magazine 3. things you want to read about in the future

contact us by

sms: 0404 440 103 ph: 1800 803 990

transmission@hepatitisc.org.au

to go into the draw we will choose a winner out of a hat and contact them

enter by 31 july 2009 ERM ed 2 mstr pg.indd 31

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sms: 0404 440 103

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ph: 1800 803 990

transmission@hepatitisc.org.au

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