Skip to main content
I need a test

Ways to test

Plan it

Privacy

Your situation

I have symptoms

Check

Down there

Elsewhere

Is it an STI at all?

I was exposed

Act now

Timing

Your risk

I tested positive

Next steps

Partners

Living with it

Prevention

Daily defenses

Vaccines

Smarter sex

Conditions

Health areas

Bacterial

Viral

Hepatitis

Parasitic & skin

Related & look-alikes

Free risk assessment

Do I Have Hepatitis C?

Hepatitis C is a virus that infects the liver and spreads mainly through blood-to-blood contact — most often shared drug-injection equipment, and much less commonly through sex. It often causes no symptoms for years, so many people don't know they have it, which is why the CDC recommends every adult be tested at least once. Answer a few questions about your history and any symptoms to see how concerned to be and what to do next. This is a guide, not a diagnosis.

  • 100% anonymous
  • Under 3 minutes
  • No sign-up
Take the test
People with chronic HCV in the U.S.
~2.4M
CDC/NHANES estimate, approximately 40% are undiagnosed
Cure rate with DAA treatment
>95%
8–12 weeks of oral direct-acting antivirals
Vaccine available
No
Unlike hepatitis A and B, no HCV vaccine exists
Screening recommendation
All adults 18–79
USPSTF Grade B (2020) + each pregnancy

How it works

How this assessment works

  • Grounded in public-health guidance

    The questions, and how heavily each answer counts, follow the risk factors and symptoms the CDC and WHO describe for Hepatitis C.

  • A risk guide, not a diagnosis

    Your answers produce a risk level, how concerned to be, and flag anything that needs urgent care. Only a lab test can confirm or rule out an infection.

  • Private by design

    It runs in your browser. We never ask for your name, email, or anything that identifies you.

About hepatitis C

What is hepatitis C?

Wondering whether you should be tested for hepatitis C — maybe because of something in your past, or because you heard everyone's now advised to check once? It's a sensible thing to rule in or out. Hepatitis C is a bloodborne virus that infects the liver, and it spreads mainly through blood-to-blood contact: most often shared drug-injection equipment, and much less commonly through sex. Its defining feature is that it's usually silent — many people carry it for years with no symptoms and no idea, which is exactly why the CDC now recommends a one-time test for every adult.

The reassuring part is that hepatitis C is now curable for most people with a short 8-to-12-week course of direct-acting antiviral tablets, so knowing your status opens the door to clearing the virus before it harms your liver. There's no vaccine, so a test is how it's found. This check weighs your answers — with the most weight on any past blood exposure — to show how concerned to be and what to do next.

Many infections are silent. A low result here doesn't rule hepatitis c out: if you've had a new partner or any concern, testing is the only way to be sure.

Screening guidance

Who should get tested for hepatitis C?

Because hepatitis C is often silent, the CDC recommends routine screening for the groups most likely to have it, not just people with symptoms.

  1. 1

    Every adult, at least once

    The CDC recommends that all adults 18 and older be tested for hepatitis C at least once in their life, and during every pregnancy. Because the infection is usually silent, a one-time test is the only way most people find out — regardless of risk.

  2. 2

    Anyone who has ever injected drugs

    Ever injecting drugs or sharing any injection equipment — even once, even long ago — is the strongest risk factor for hepatitis C. If this applies to you, testing is important, and periodic re-testing is advised while any injecting continues.

  3. 3

    You had a blood transfusion or transplant before 1992, or were born to a mother with hepatitis C

    Blood and organ donations weren't screened for hepatitis C until 1992 (clotting factors until 1987), so anyone who received them earlier should be tested. So should anyone born to a mother who had hepatitis C, and people who had long-term hemodialysis.

  4. 4

    You have ongoing risk — including HIV or as a man who has sex with men

    People with HIV, and men who have sex with men, carry a higher risk of hepatitis C and benefit from testing and, where risk continues, periodic re-testing. The same goes for anyone with a needlestick exposure or a history of incarceration.

Timing

When a hepatitis C test is reliable

Hepatitis C is caught with an HCV antibody test, and antibodies take time to appear — usually about 8 to 11 weeks after exposure, occasionally up to 6 months. So a negative antibody test is most reliable once at least that time has passed. There's one important exception: an HCV RNA test detects the virus itself and can turn positive much earlier, roughly 1 to 2 weeks after exposure. If you've had a recent high-risk exposure, don't just wait out the antibody window — see a clinician, who can decide whether earlier RNA testing makes sense.
A reactive antibody test is always confirmed with an HCV RNA test before anything is concluded; a reactive antibody with a positive RNA means a current infection that can be cured with treatment.

Your hepatitis C testing window

After a possible exposure, a hepatitis C test becomes reliable around 8–11 weeks (antibody).

Exposure Day 0 Earliest reliable Day 56 Conclusive Day 84

Before day 56 a test can miss it · from day 56 it's reliable · re-test after day 84 if you tested early.

Free tool · not a clinic

When can I test? Exposure-window calculator

Testing too soon can miss an infection. Enter the date of possible exposure to see the earliest a test can reliably detect each STI.

Full hepatitis C testing guide: cost, treatment & where to test

Stats & rates

Hepatitis C in the United States

Approximately 2.4 million people in the U.S. live with chronic HCV (CDC/NHANES prevalence estimate, 2013–2016 era); about 40% are undiagnosed. An estimated 66,700 new acute HCV infections occurred in 2021 (CDC), driven primarily by injection drug use. HCV causes approximately 14,000 deaths per year in the U.S. , it is the leading cause of liver-related death. People born 1945–1965 account for an estimated 75% of HCV deaths. New infections are increasingly concentrated in younger adults in rural and suburban areas linked to the opioid epidemic.

20.3 /100k
Estimated acute HCV incidence per 100,000 (CDC 2021 adjusted) (2021)
2.40M
People living with chronic HCV in the U.S. (est.) (2021)
>95%
cure rate with 8–12 weeks of oral DAA pills

Medically Reviewed · Updated

Reviewed by Mark Riegel, MD · Sexual Health Physician · Chief Medical Reviewer

Physician focused on sexual health, STI testing, treatment and prevention, and EasySTD's chief medical reviewer. Owns the condition guides and is the clinical backstop for any page without a more specific specialist. Our editorial guidelines →

10 Sources

Clinical guidance

Data & references

Peer-reviewed literature

Good to Know

Hepatitis C FAQs

What people ask most before testing for hepatitis c.

How is hepatitis C spread?

It's a bloodborne virus, so it passes when blood from someone with hepatitis C gets into your bloodstream. By far the most common route today is sharing needles, syringes or other equipment to inject drugs — even once, even long ago. Other routes include blood transfusions or organ transplants received before 1992 (before donor screening), clotting-factor products before 1987, long-term hemodialysis, needlestick injuries at work, being born to a mother with hepatitis C, and unregulated tattoos or piercings with reused equipment. Sexual transmission is uncommon overall but is a recognised risk, particularly among men who have sex with men.

Why does the CDC say every adult should be tested?

Hepatitis C often causes no symptoms for years or even decades, so most people who have it don't know — and it can quietly damage the liver in that time. Because of this, the CDC recommends that all adults 18 and older get tested for hepatitis C at least once in their life, that everyone be tested during each pregnancy, and that anyone with ongoing risk (such as current injection drug use) be tested regularly.

What symptoms would I notice?

Usually none for a long time. When acute symptoms do appear they're often vague — fatigue, nausea, poor appetite, or discomfort in the upper-right abdomen. More telling signs of liver trouble are dark urine, pale stools, and jaundice (yellowing of the skin or the whites of the eyes). Because symptoms are so easy to miss, a test — not how you feel — is the only reliable way to know.

How is hepatitis C tested for?

It starts with an HCV antibody test, which looks for your body's response to the virus. Antibodies usually take about 8 to 11 weeks to show up, and occasionally up to 6 months. A reactive antibody result is confirmed with an HCV RNA test, which detects the virus itself and can turn positive earlier, roughly 1 to 2 weeks after exposure. A reactive antibody plus a positive RNA means a current infection.

Can hepatitis C be cured?

Yes. Hepatitis C is now curable for most people with 8 to 12 weeks of direct-acting antiviral tablets — a short, well-tolerated course. There is no hepatitis C vaccine (unlike hepatitis A and B), so testing and treatment are how the infection is caught and cleared. Because treatment works so well, finding out your status is genuinely worth it.

Have a different question? Browse the full STD & STI FAQ library, every question we answer, in one place.

Keep reading

More from the health library

All condition guides articles