Hepatitis C is a contagious liver disease that ranges in severity from a mild illness lasting a few weeks to a serious lifelong illness that attacks the liver. infection is the result of the Hepatitis C virus (HCV) which is spread primarily through contact with the blood of an infected person. Hepatitis C can be either "acute" or "chronic."
In 2018 there were an estimated 50,300 cases of acute Hepatitis C cases in the United States. An estimated 2.4 million people in the United States had chronic Hepatitis C between 2013 and 2016. More than 50% of people who beome infected with Hepatitis C will develop chronic infection. Today, most people become infected with the Hepatitis C virus by sharing needles or other equipment used to inject drugs.
The Hepatitis C virus can survive outside of the body at room temperature, on environmental surfaces, for up to 3 weeks.
Symptoms
Symptoms of acute Hepatitis C can include fever, fatigue, loss of appetite, nausea, vomiting, abdominal pain and more. However, 70%-80% of individuals infected with Hepatitis C have no symptoms. In many cases, there are no symptoms of the disease until liver problems have developed. Hepatitis C is often detected during routine blood tests to measure liver function and liver enzyme (protein produced by the liver) level. For more information review the CDC Fact Sheet.
Prevention
There is currently no vaccine for the prevention of HCV, research into the development of a vaccine is underway. For more information visit:CDC
