Alert ! Tattoos can transmit hepatitis disease

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The art of body tattooing has now become a trend. According to the survey in 2012, one of five people have tattoos. 

Unfortunately, besides getting a images that are difficult to be removed, tattoo also carries the risk of transmission of hepatitis disease C.


Hepatitis C is the main cause of liver cancer and organ transplant. About 70 percent of people Infected virus the hepatitis C , suffer liver chronic disease and 5 percent died because cirrhosis or liver cancer. In the United States, as many as 3.2 million people are infected with hepatitis C and did not its realize because they are not feel sick.

Transmission of viral hepatitis happened primarily through blood transfusion or hypodermic needle. According to the central data of control and prevention of desease the U.S., about 60 percent of new hepatitis cases its every year, caused because drug injecting. Even so, about 20 percent of cases of hepatitis have no history of ever using a hypodermic needle or exposed.

According to Dr. Fritz Francois of New York University, Langone Medical Center conducted research and found about 34 percent people who infected hepatitis have a tattoo, compared with 12 percent who did not infected.

"Tattooing is a risk factor transmission of the disease and virus the hepatitis can to not active during many years," said Francois. In his research, Francois interviewed more than 2,000 people about tattoos that are owned himself and its hepatitis status. The respondents were drawn from three hospitals in New York between 2004 and 2006.

After taking into account various risk factors, the difference between an infected person and which is not, increasingly the real. Around people who ever do tattoos, quadrupled which infected with hepatitis C.

Source:  Reuters