The hepatitis C virus, or HCV, causes a chronic liver infection that can lead to permanent liver scarring and, in dire cases, cancer. It affects around 71 million people worldwide and causes approximately 400,000 deaths each ...
Nov 22, 2022
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The hepatitis vaccines you receive as a child don't protect you from getting hepatitis C, a serious disease that can have fatal consequences including liver damage, cirrhosis and liver cancer.
Nov 22, 2022
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Key findings of the Burnet Institute and Kirby Institute's Australia's progress towards hepatitis C elimination Annual Report for 2022 released today, show:
Nov 18, 2022
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Scientists from Trinity College Dublin have unearthed a secret that may explain why some people are able to resist viral infections, having screened the immune systems of women exposed to hepatitis C (HCV) through contaminated ...
Nov 04, 2022
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Even after chronic hepatitis C has been cured, portal hypertension remains the major factor driving the development of complications in advanced liver disease. In cooperation with researchers from Spain, a research team led ...
Nov 03, 2022
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There has been a monumental policy shift in paying plasma donors in Canada.
Oct 24, 2022
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While national efforts to eliminate hepatitis C have faced setbacks because of increased drug use, the impact of COVID-19 and insurance complications, there's a bright spot: Some states are now making it easier for patients ...
Oct 20, 2022
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The liver is known for its ability to regenerate. It can completely regrow itself even after two-thirds of its mass has been surgically removed. But damage from medications, alcohol abuse or obesity can eventually cause the ...
Oct 17, 2022
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A new analysis reveals that primary liver cancer was among the top three causes of cancer death in 46 countries in 2020 and the number of people diagnosed with or dying from primary liver cancer per year could rise by more ...
Oct 06, 2022
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Last spring, a rapid polymerase chain reaction (PCR) test for COVID-19—developed by Northwestern University spinoff company Minute Molecular Diagnostics—received emergency use authorization (EUA) status from the U.S. ...
Sep 29, 2022
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Hepatitis C is an infectious disease affecting the liver, caused by the hepatitis C virus (HCV). The infection is often asymptomatic, but once established, chronic infection can progress to scarring of the liver (fibrosis), and advanced scarring (cirrhosis) which is generally apparent after many years. In some cases, those with cirrhosis will go on to develop liver failure or other complications of cirrhosis, including liver cancer.
The hepatitis C virus (HCV) is spread by blood-to-blood contact. Most people have few, if any symptoms after the initial infection, yet the virus persists in the liver in about 85% of those infected. Persistent infection can be treated with medication, peginterferon and ribavirin being the standard-of-care therapy. Only 51% are cured overall. Those who develop cirrhosis or liver cancer may require a liver transplant, and the virus universally recurs after transplantation.
An estimated 270-300 million people worldwide are infected with hepatitis C. Hepatitis C is a strictly human disease. It cannot be contracted from or given to any animal. Chimpanzees can be infected with the virus in the laboratory, but do not develop the disease, which has made research more difficult. No vaccine against hepatitis C is available. The existence of hepatitis C (originally "non-A non-B hepatitis") was postulated in the 1970s and proved conclusively in 1989. It is one of five known hepatitis viruses: A, B, C, D, and E.
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