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Hepatitis C Backgrounder

The Facts

Transmission

• Occurs when blood from an infected individual enters the body of another individual who is not infected.
• HCV is spread most commonly today through sharing needles when "shooting" drugs, through accidental needle sticks by healthcare workers, or from an infected mother to her baby during birth. However, most persons with chronic HCV infection today were infected many years ago, before medical scientists learned about HCV and how to keep the blood supply free of this virus.

Signs & Symptoms

• Hepatitis C virus often causes chronic inflammation of the liver that may result in gradual degradation of liver function over a period of years.
• Approximately 80% of individuals infected with HCV have no signs or symptoms, such as jaundice, fatigue, dark urine, abdominal pain, loss of appetite or nausea.

Long-Term Effects

• 55-85% of newly infected individuals progress to chronic hepatitis C.
• 70% of chronically infected individuals develop chronic liver disease.
• 1-5% of infected individuals may die from chronic liver disease.
• Liver disease from chronic HCV infection is the leading cause of liver transplant.

Statistics & Trends

• An estimated 3.9 million (1.8%) of American have been infected with HCV
• An estimated 2.7 million Americans are chronically infected with HCV and at risk of disease progression.
• Approximately 350 million worldwide are infected with HCV.
• Approximately 170 million are chronically infected with HCV
• There are approximately 8,000-10,000 deaths per year from HCV in the U.S.
• There is no vaccine available to prevent the spread of HCV.

- Source: Center for Disease Control (CDC), the National Center for Infectious Disease.