Hep C Overview

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Hep C progresses slowly, often showing no symptoms. That’s why many people with Hep C don’t know they have it. And many don’t know that it can be cured.

HEP C Basics

Hepatitis C is a liver infection caused by the hepatitis C virus (HCV). Hepatitis C is often described as “acute,” meaning a new infection, or “chronic,” meaning long-term infection.

Hepatitis C spreads when you come in contact with blood from an infected person. Sharing needles or other equipment used to prepare or inject drugs is the root cause behind most of the people getting infected with hepatitis C virus. For some individuals, hepatitis C is a short-term illness, but for many (more than half of people) it becomes a long-term, chronic infection. Chronic hepatitis C can result in serious, even life-threatening health problems like cirrhosis and liver cancer. People with chronic hepatitis C can often have no symptoms and don’t feel sick. When symptoms appear, they often are a sign of advanced liver disease. There is no vaccine for hepatitis C. The best way to prevent hepatitis C is by avoiding behaviors that can spread the disease, especially injecting drugs. Getting tested for hepatitis C is important, because treatments can cure most people with hepatitis C in 8 to 12 weeks.

Source: https://www.cdc.gov/hepatitis/hcv/index.htm

Data and Trend:

 Today, millions of Americans living with viral hepatitis, and most don’t know they have the virus.

  • 4 million people are estimated to be living with hepatitis C in the United States. One study predicted the actual number to be as high as 4.7 million or as low as 2.5 million (Edlin et al.)
  • In 2018, millennials (adults in their 20s and 30s) made up 36.5% of newly reported chronic hepatitis C infections, baby boomers (adults in their mid-50s to early 70s) made up 36.3% of newly reported chronic hepatitis C infections, and generation X (adults in their late 30s to early 50s) made up 23.1% of newly reported chronic hepatitis C infections

Source:

Data and Trends

Millions of Americans from all walks of life are living with viral hepatitis, and most don’t know they have the virus.

  • 2.4 million people are estimated to be living with hepatitis C in the United States. The actual number may be as high as 4.7 million or as low as 2.5 million.1
  • 850,000 people in the U.S. are estimated to be living with hepatitis B. The actual number may be as high as 2.2 million or as low as 730,000.2
  • More than half of persons living with hepatitis do not know that they have the virus. Thus, they are at risk for life threatening liver disease and cancer and unknowingly transmitting the virus to others.
    • 67% of persons living with hepatitis B infection do not know they have the virus.
    • 51% of persons living with hepatitis C infection do not know they have the virus.

History of Hep C

Hepatitis C was identified in 1989 by scientists at Chiron (a California biotechnology company) that were collaborating with investigators at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). This was a turning point which allowed for developing tests to detect HCV. The new drug named as Interferon alfa-2B to treat HCV was approved by Food and Drug Administration (FDA) in 1992 A.D.

Over the years, the treatment for HCV has undergone several changes with FDA’s approval of different drugs for treating HCV.

Shattering the stigma Hep C

Individuals with HCV are anxious and live with an exaggerated fear of transmission which can become a major cause of social isolation and reduced intimacy in relationships. (Grundy et al.) Moreover, stigma which is defined as a mark of disgrace associated with particular circumstance can have a deteriorating effect on the diagnosis and treatment of HCV, leading to continuing risk of disease transmission. Educating HCV positive patients in self-managing their illness by shattering the stigma is important to reduce the disease burden. (Marinho et al.)

Source:

  • Grundy G, Beeching N. Understanding social stigma in women with hepatitis C. Nurs Stand. 2004;19(4):35-39. doi:10.7748/ns2004.10.19.4.35.c3720
  • Marinho RT, Barreira DP. Hepatitis C, stigma and cure. World J Gastroenterol. 2013;19(40):6703-6709. doi:10.3748/wjg.v19.i40.6703