Hepatitis C is an infectious disease of the liver. Worldwide, health experts estimate that 180 million people have chronic hepatitis C, with more than 4 million of those cases in the United States.
Hepatitis C, like all forms of hepatitis, can damage the liver. Of people infected, 55 to 85 percent will develop chronic infection, and 75 percent of those with chronic infection will develop chronic liver disease.
According to the Office of HIV/AIDS Infection Disease Policy in 2015, African Americans had some of the highest Hepatitis C mortality rates.
The CDC recorded in 2011 that Hepatitis C was listed as a cause of death for African Americans with a rate of 7.89 per 100,000 African Americans compared to 4.19 per 100,000 for whites and 3.14 per 100,000 for Asian Americans and Pacific Islanders.
African Americans have the highest mortality rates of liver and bile duct cancer. HCV is a major cause of liver cancer.
Non-A hepatitis; Non-B hepatitis
Hepatitis C is caused by infection with the hepatitis C virus. This virus causes chronic (long-term) infection in more than 85 percent of infected people, often leading to chronic liver disease. Hepatitis C is unrelated to any of the other known hepatitis viruses (A, B, D, and E).
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.
Most people with acute or chronic hepatitis C have few, if any, symptoms and are not even aware they are infected. If there are symptoms, they may include:
Symptoms of acute hepatitis C, if they appear at all, generally appear 6 to 12 weeks after exposure to the virus. Even if they don’t show symptoms, some people with chronic hepatitis C may develop serious liver disease that is not apparent at first. In the United States, chronic hepatitis C infection is the leading cause of cirrhosis (severe liver disease) and liver cancer, both of which can be fatal.
Healthcare providers can diagnose hepatitis C with a blood test.
If you are diagnosed with chronic hepatitis C, your healthcare provider may advise you to have a liver biopsy to find out if you have chronic liver disease. Unfortunately, by the time a healthcare provider diagnoses serious liver disease, liver damage can be considerable and even irreversible. This damage often results in cirrhosis (severe liver disease) or liver cancer.
The symptoms of liver damage may not appear for several years. Therefore, it is important for people at high risk of infection to be tested for hepatitis C so they can start treatment as early as possible. High-risk groups include:
If you are diagnosed with hepatitis C infection, your healthcare provider will examine you for liver disease and prescribe medicine to get rid of the virus. Two medicines are used to treat hepatitis C: interferon and ribavirin. Most health experts advise using both drugs together. The response to treatment varies from person to person.
About 15 to 25 percent of those infected with hepatitis C will recover completely.
Because other hepatitis viruses and alcohol use are associated with faster progression of the disease, health experts advise people with hepatitis C to avoid drinking alcohol and to be vaccinated against hepatitis A and hepatitis B viruses.
Hepatitis C infection that continues over many years can cause significant complications, such as:
Call your health care provider if:
Currently, there is no vaccine to prevent hepatitis C infection, However, you can take steps to protect yourself from becoming infected with hepatitis C virus and to prevent passing the virus to others.
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention recommends:
(BlackDoctor.org) — Get a handle on hepatitis. This common liver disease can be severe, or even fatal, so it is important to know the facts. According to research or other evidence, the following self-care steps may be helpful:
What You Need To Know:
These recommendations are not comprehensive and are not intended to replace the advice of your doctor or pharmacist. Continue reading the full hepatitis article for more in-depth, fully-referenced information on medicines, vitamins, herbs, and dietary and lifestyle changes that may be helpful.
