Hepatitis C is a liver infection caused by the hepatitis C virus (HCV).
Hepatitis C is spread through contact with blood from an infected person.
Today, most people become infected by sharing needles or other equipment used to prepare and inject drugs.
For some people, hepatitis C is a short-term illness, but for more than half of people who become infected with the hepatitis C virus, it becomes a long-term, chronic infection.
Chronic hepatitis C can result in serious, even life-threatening health problems like cirrhosis and liver cancer.
People with chronic hepatitis C can often have no symptoms and don’t feel sick. When symptoms appear, they often are a sign of advanced liver disease.
There is no vaccine for hepatitis C. The best way to prevent hepatitis C is by avoiding behaviors that can spread the disease, especially injecting drugs.
Getting tested for hepatitis C is important, because treatments can cure most people with hepatitis C in 8 to 12 weeks.