The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention recommend that certain people who are at high risk for hepatitis C infection should undergo testing for hepatitis C virus. These include individuals who:

*Have been notified that they received a blood transfusion from a donor who later tested positive for hepatitis C
*Injected illegal drugs, even if they experimented only a few times many years ago
*Received a blood transfusion or solid organ transplant before July, 1992
*Received a blood product for clotting problems that was produced before 1987
*Have ever been on long term kidney dialysis (filtering blood to treat kidney failure)
*Have evidence of liver disease (e.g., persistently abnormal ALT levels)

Guidelines for hepatitis C virus testing are less clear in certain other people who may also be at increased risk of acquiring hepatitis C virus. These include individuals who:

*Are recipients of transplanted tissue (e.g., cornea, skin, heart, kidney)
*Used intranasal cocaine and other non-injecting illegal drugs
*Have had tattoos and/or body piercing
*Have had multiple sex partners or a history of sexually transmitted disease
*Are long term steady sex partners of an hepatitis C virus positive person