List of People With Hepatitis C

List Of People With Hepatitis C

The infectious disease hepatitis C is caused by the hepatitis C virus (HCV), which affects the liver and is transmitted by blood-to-blood contact, or by exposure to another person's infected blood. The infection is often asymptomatic, but chronic infection can cause inflammation of the liver (chronic hepatitis). This condition can progress to scarring of the liver (fibrosis), and advanced scarring (cirrhosis). In some cases, those with cirrhosis go on to develop liver failure or liver cancer.

Although HCV was not discovered until April 1989, an estimated 170 million people worldwide are infected by hepatitis C. It is the leading cause of liver transplant in the United States; 8,000–10,000 people die each year in the US from the disease. No vaccine is available at this time. The symptoms of infection can be medically managed when the disease is diagnosed early, and a proportion of patients can be cleared of the virus by a course of anti-viral medicines. The symptoms of HCV infection, especially in its early stages, can be mild enough to conceal the fact of the disease; thus, some people do not seek treatment. As Live Aid founder Bob Geldof states, "Stigma, shame and fear can suffocate awareness. These barriers prevent people from getting tested, receiving treatment, and clearing themselves of this disease". A number of celebrities diagnosed with the disease have decided to go public in order to raise awareness about hepatitis C and to encourage more people to get tested for the disease.