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Definition

Hepatitis C is a form of liver inflammation that causes primarily a long-lasting (chronic) disease. Acute (newly developed) hepatitis C is rarely observed as the early disease is generally quite mild. Spread mainly by contact with infected blood, the hepatitis C virus (HCV) causes most cases of viral liver infection not due to the A and B hepatitis viruses. In fact, before other viral types were found, hepatitis C was referred to as "non-A, non-B hepatitis." It is not a new infection, just newly diagnosable and has been widely present in the U.S. population for decades.

Description

HCV is a blood-borne virus that is and always was the major cause of "transfusion hepatitis," which can develop in patients who are given blood or most blood products except for gamma-globulin. The existence of a third hepatitis virus (besides the A and B viruses) became clear in 1974, but HCV was first identified in 1989....