Hepatitis C (HCV)

An overview of Hepatitis C (HCV)

Chronic Hep C is a disease of the liver caused by the hepatitis C virus (HCV). The virus is transmitted through blood-to-blood contact. As a result, some people are at particular risk of infection, including drug users, people who have tattoos in unsanitary conditions, people who have unprotected sexual intercourse and sexual practices that are prone to injury, and people who are at risk of being infected at work.

An infection with Hep C often goes undetected for a long time, because in about three out of four cases those affected have no or only unspecific, flu-like symptoms.¹ This makes the disease difficult to diagnose and often prevents timely treatment. It can take years or even decades for a diagnosis to be made. Virus carriers without a diagnosis can unknowingly infect other people. It is therefore important that the doctor tests for Hep C if symptoms are suspicious, especially in combination with elevated liver values. If left untreated, chronic Hep C can have serious health consequences: up to 20% of chronic HCV patients develop cirrhosis of the liver within 20 years² which can lead to liver failure in the end-stage. Liver cell cancer is also a possible long-term consequence of the infection.

Around 71 million people worldwide are infected with the hepatitis C virus.³

1.75 million new infections were diagnosed in 2015.⁴

Approx. 6,000 cases of Hep C were reported in Germany in 2019.⁵

Men become infected more often than women.⁵

Until a few years ago, HCV infection was a chronic and difficult to treat disease. But modern, direct antiviral drugs (DAAs) have revolutionized hepatitis treatment and significantly improved the patient's perspective: With these therapies, hepatitis C can be cured in almost every patient.