Hepatitis C Committee

Chair: Dr. P. Kishore, MD, MPH, CMA

(Boston NAMA)

Committee Members

Paul Bowman, CMA 

Cheri Jarvis, CMA 

What Is Hepatitis C?

• Hepatitis is an inflammation of the liver. Although in many people the diseased liver is able to repair itself and regain function, it may progress to scarring of the liver and chronic liver disease. Hepatitis can have numerous causes. A common cause is infection with one of the several types of viruses (e.g., hepatitis A, B, or C viruses).
• Hepatitis C virus (HCV) infection occurs when blood, or other body fluids from an infected person enters the body of an uninfected person. In 2000, about 30,000 new infections occurred. Most of these infections occurred among young adults 20-39 years old. Injection drug use and blood transfusion prior to 1992 are major risk factor for HCV infection. About 3.9 million American have been infected with HCV and 2.7 million have chronic infection. In 2000, about 30,000 new infections occurred. Most of these infections occurred among young adults 20-39 years old.
• HCV infection is becoming a leading cause of cirrhosis. In addition to genetic factors in the infected person three independent factors are associated with an increased rate of disease progression. These factors include daily alcohol consumption, age at infection of more than 40 years, and male gender. These factors have a greater influence on progression to cirrhosis in HCV infection than the virus itself.

What Should You Do If You Have Hepatitis C?

• There are several actions all people who have chronic viral hepatitis C should take as general measures. Most important of all is to not drink alcoholic beverages, and if necessary, get into treatment, because alcohol makes liver disease worse. Injection drug users should stop injecting drugs and get into and stay in substance abuse treatment. All individuals with chronic liver disease should be immunized against hepatitis A. Individuals with chronic HCV who are at risk also should be immunized against hepatitis B.