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Roughly 35% of the people in the United States who are infected with HIV are also infected with another serious viral disease called hepatitis C virus (HCV) or "hep C" for short. One example is this edition's "Positive Profile," Theresa Parrish. (See page 7 for her story.)

Because co-infection with hep C is so common among people with HIV, here is a short fact sheet about this disease.

Is Hep C Something New?

Yes. Hepatitis C, like HIV, was only identified fairly recently. In the mid-1970s, scientists discovered that many post-transfusion cases of hepatitis were not due to either hepatitis A or hepatitis B. But it wasn't until 1989 that this "non-A, non-B hepatitis" was identified and re-named "hepatitis C virus."

How Do You Get It?

The ways that you get hep C are similar to the ways you get HIV, which may be why so many people are infected with both diseases. It is spread through blood-to-blood exposure. In developing countries (as in the U.S. before blood screening), the primary transmission is by blood transfusion. In the U.S. today, it is most commonly spread through drug injection and unsafe sex. Like HIV, it is not spread through casual contact with other people.

What Does It Do to You?

Chronic Hepatitis C can result in cirrhosis of the liver (fibrotic scarring of the liver) and liver cancer.

How Does It Progress?

The first six months after infection are called "acute hepatitis C." Most people have no symptoms during this phase, and approximately 20% to 30% clear the virus from their body during this period. The remaining 70% to 80% develop "chronic hepatitis C," which is an infection lasting more than six months.

Hepatitis C is a very slow-progressing disease. Approximately one-third of patients progress to cirrhosis in less than 20 years, another third progress to cirrhosis in 30 years, and another third progress so slowly that they will not have cirrhosis in their lifetime.

Can It Be Treated?

Yes. Currently, hep C is treated with a combination of pegylated interferon alpha and ribavirin for 24 or 48 weeks, depending on the type of hep C involved. The cure rate is about 50% for those with the genotype most common in the United States. As happened in the early stages of HIV, scientists are racing to develop new and more effective treatments for this relatively newly-identified disease.

Copyright 2010, Positive Health Publications, Inc.

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