Transmission
You can get hepatitis C from infected blood or body fluids. Today, the most common way people get infected is by needle-sharing during intravenous drug use. Most new infections occur among intravenous drug users. In addition, an infected pregnant woman can infect her unborn baby.
Since 1992, when reliable blood screening procedures became available, the risk of transmission of hepatitis C by blood transfusion has fallen to less than one per million units of transfused blood, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
Rarely, the virus can be transmitted through sexual intercourse.
Hepatitis C is not transmitted through shaking hands, coughing, sneezing, breastfeeding, or sharing cups and utensils.