Cure For Hepatitis C

The cure for hepatitis C is the prescription drug peginterferon alone, or in combination with ribavirin. Hepatitis C is a virus which infects the liver causing inflammation of the liver. Hepatitis C is the most common cause of liver disease, including cirrhosis of the liver, liver cancer, and the need for liver transplants. Hepatitis C is often abbreviated as “HCV”.

In a long-term follow-up study of 997 patients, 99 percent of patients with hepatitis C treated with peginterferon alone, or in combination with ribavirin, had no detectable hepatitis C virus up to seven years later. Researchers say these results validates the use of the word “cure”, defined as having no detectable hepatitis C virus in the blood six months following treatment. The success rate may actually be 100% because the 8 who appeared to not have been cured may have actually been cured and then re-infected, as opposed to never having been cured and still had the virus.

Hepatitis C Cure
What You Need To Know About Hepatitis C (.gov)

Hepatitis C Symptoms

Most people infected with hepatitis C have no symptoms for years.

Fatigue

Flu-like symptoms: fever, chills, muscle aches, joint pain, and headaches

Nausea, aversion to certain foods, unexplained weight loss

Emotional symptoms

Abdomen tenderness (right upper abdomen)

Dilated veins in the esophagus

Jaundice (causes the skin or eyes to have a yellow tint)

Hepatitis C Symptoms (.gov)

Hepatitis C Risk Factors

Long-term kidney dialysis

Regular contact with blood at work (for instance, as a healthcare worker)

Unprotected sexual contact with a person who has hepatitis C

Inject street drugs or share a needle with someone who has hepatitis C

Received a blood transfusion before July 1992

Received blood, blood products, or solid organs from a donor who has hepatitis C

Share personal items such as toothbrushes and razors with someone who has hepatitis C

Were born to a hepatitis C infected mother

Hepatitis C (.gov)

Hepatitis C Statistics

The CDC (Centers for Disease Control and Prevention) estimates that at least 4 million Americans have been infected with hepatitis C, and 3.2 million are chronically infected. The number of new infections per year declined from an average of 240,000 in the 1980s to about 26,000 in 2004, the latest year for which statistics are available. The CDC estimates the number deaths caused by hepatitis C could increase to 38,000 annually by the year 2010.

Hepatitis C Foundation International
Hepatitis A, B, C, D, and E (.gov)