Some people are at increased risk for Hepatitis C, including:

• Current injection drug users (currently the most common way Hepatitis C virus is spread in the United States)
• Past injection drug users, including those who injected only one time or many years ago
• Recipients of donated blood, blood products, and organs (once a common means of transmission but now rare in the United States since blood screening became available in 1992)
• People who received a blood product for clotting problems made before 1987
• Hemodialysis patients or persons who spent many years on dialysis for kidney failure
• People who received body piercing or tattoos done with non-sterile instruments

• People with known exposures to the Hepatitis C virus, such as

  • Health care workers injured by needlesticks
  • Recipients of blood or organs from a donor who tested positive for the Hepatitis C virus
• HIV-infected persons
• Children born to mothers infected with the Hepatitis C virus

Less common risks include:

• Having sexual contact with a person who is infected with the Hepatitis C virus
• Sharing personal care items, such as razors or toothbrushes, that may have come in contact with the blood of an infected person

via CDC