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What is hepatitis C?

Hepatitis C (known as HCV, once called non-A, non-B hepatitis) is a liver disease caused by a bloodborne virus. Discovered in 1989, this strain of acute viral hepatitis causes approximately 20,000 new infections in the U.S. each year.

Recovery from this infection is rare--about 75 to 85 percent of infected people become chronic carriers of the virus. Approximately 20 percent of people infected with hepatitis C virus will become sick with jaundice or other symptoms of hepatitis. Sixty to 70 percent of these people may go on to develop chronic liver disease.

Chronic liver disease due to hepatitis C causes between 8,000 and 10,000 deaths and is the leading indication for liver transplantation each year in the United States.

What causes hepatitis C?

Transmission of hepatitis C occurs primarily from contact with infected blood, but can also occur from sexual contact or from an infected mother to her baby. Blood transfusions prior to 1992 and the use of shared needles are other significant causes of the spread of hepatitis C.