Dear Dr Dieterich, My brother has recently been diagnosed with chronic Hep C in his liver. Before this diagnosis he had been unwell and was originally diagnosed with ME but now his GP thinks that his symptoms are all due to the Hep C. He is unsure how and when he got the virus but does not use drugs and neither he or his partner are permiscuous, he did however drink but does not know if this is the cause, we would all like to know how infectious this is and should the whole family including brothers and sisters be screened? he is very worried as he has small grandchildren which are around him all the time. Also he is an asthmatic would he still be a good candidate for treatment, hope you can please give us some answere's awaiting your reply thank you.

Hepatitis C is not transmissable from normal person to person contact. It is mostly transmitted through blood to blood contact. There may be a little sexual transmission but that is mostly blood to blood contact through sex. As for the asthma, it can be made worse by interferon, but if it is well controlled, it should not be a problem. Make sure he sees a doctor who treats a lot of HCV. Good luck! DTD