EpiReview: Hepatitis C in NSW, 1991-1999

Abstract

Hepatitis C is a blood borne virus that may present as an acute illness with jaundice, but more commonly passes unnoticed. Most people infected are symptomless initially, but 65–85 per cent will progress to chronic HCV infection (persistent viraemia) and 15–20 per cent will develop long-term liver damage. Liver cancer has been reported in approximately 1–4 per cent of cases, and cirrhosis after an average of 25–30 years of infection. Over the past decade hepatitis C virus (HCV) infections have been identified as one of the common important infections, with an estimated 170 million persons infected worldwide.