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Does hepatitis C go around in my sexual network?

NOMOREC

Important messages:
- Not all gay men are at risk of hepatitis C. The chance of running into hep C depends on the type of sex you have.
- Hepatitis C is mostly found among HIV positive gay men.
- Hepatitis C is also somewhat more commonly found among men who use (or wish to start using) PrEP. HIV negative men, including PrEP users, are at greater risk of hepatitis C if they have sex without condoms in a network in which hepatitis C goes around.

 

Specific networks

You will usually know if hepatitis C occurs in your sexual network. For example because

  • a fuck buddy has had hepatitis C
  • a friend or a more distant person who 'fishes in the same pond of men' as you, has got infected with hepatitis C

Risk or not?
You are more likely to run into hepatitis C if you
- are fucked without a condom
- like fisting (active/passive) or ass play (passive)

The chance of an infection increases if you
- do this during group sex, sex parties or afters
- use chems

Men living with HIV are the most likely to contract hepatitis C. This STI is also found more often among HIV negative men who use (or want to use) PrEP.

Learn more about how hepatitis C is transmitted here. And here you can get advice on whether or not to test.

 

 

 

Among HIV positive men especially

It is mostly HIV positive men that get hepatitis C through sex.

Read more

 

  • HIV may make you biologically more vulnerable to hepatitis C. But it is also due to the simple fact that hepatitis C is more common in the sexual networks of HIV positive men. So there is a bigger chance you will run into this virus.
  • If you take anti-HIV medication, you are still at risk of this STI.
  • Of course, not all HIV positive men have the same risk of getting hepatitis C. If you’re HIV positive, the risk of getting hepatitis C largely depends on the type of sex you have. 

 

 

But also among HIV negative men

HIV negative men also get hepatitis C through sex. Hepatitis C is somewhat more commonly found among men who use (or wish to start using) PrEP.

Read more


If you are HIV negative, you have a higher risk of getting hepatitis C if you have sex without condoms in a network in which hepatitis C goes around.

PrEP

Hepatitis C is more common among men who use (or wish to start using) PrEP.

  • PrEP is unlikely to make you more biologically vulnerable to hepatitis C.​
  • Of course, not every PrEP user has the same risk of getting hepatitis C. If you use PrEP, your chance of getting hepatitis C will depend on the type of sex you have.

 

 
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