ABSTRACT
Worldwide, hepatitis C virus (HCV) is a major cause of sporadic (community-acquired) hepatitis. Parenteral exposure via injection of recreational drugs remains a major risk factor for acquiring HCV infection (Figure 4.1). HCV also was a major cause of posttransfusion non-A, non-B hepatitis prior to the advent of screening blood donors for anti-HCV antibodies in the 1990s. Chronic hepatitis with persistent virus replication is the most common outcome of acute hepatitis C. Cirrhosis and primary liver cancer are associated with long-term infection. Vertical and sexual transmissions are much less common for HCV than for hepatitis B virus (HBV).
