Hepatitis C

📖What is Hepatitis C?

Hepatitis C is a viral infection of the liver caused by the hepatitis C virus, which is transmitted primarily through contact with infected blood, most often through unsafe injection practices, unscreened blood transfusions, or use of contaminated medical equipment. Unlike hepatitis B, most people who contract hepatitis C, roughly three-quarters, develop a chronic infection that persists silently for years or decades, often without causing any symptoms until significant liver damage has already occurred. Chronic hepatitis C infection progressively scars the liver and significantly raises the risk of cirrhosis and liver cancer over time if left untreated. A major medical advance over the past decade has been the development of highly effective oral antiviral medications that can cure the vast majority of hepatitis C infections within a few months of treatment. Because early infection is often silent, screening of at-risk individuals is important for timely diagnosis and cure before serious liver damage develops.

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