Mohammad Zakiullah.
Beware of hepatitis C - the silent epidemic.
Med Today Jan ;3(1):26-9.

Hepatitis C Virus (HCV) infection is a common, and major source of slowly progressive liver disease. Although acute hepatitis C is uncommon, majority of the patients with HCV infection go on to develop chronic hepatitis, and therefore the pool of infected people is large. 75 - 80 percent of those infected patient develop chronicity and remain infective for the rest of their lives. No vaccine is available so far. The treatment is expensive, toxic and response rate is less than satisfactory. Despite declining incidence of acute HCV in the developed countries chronic hepatitis C is common. The complications of HCV like cirrhosis and hepatocellular carcinoma will increase as infected population gets older. Awareness of health care professionals and public is essential for effectiveness of prevention and treatment of this silent epidemic.

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