Another reason so many people with hepatitis C remain undiagnosed is that many of the symptoms are subjective, at least in severity, and easy to put down to something else. So, for example, depression, fatigue, skins problems, insomnia, pain and digestive disorders could all have other causes as well. Nine out of 10 people, who have Hepatitis C, are not even aware of it. For these reasons Hepatitis C is often referred to as — a silent killer.

Drug treatment to eradicate the virus has advanced greatly in the last few years. With effective treatment, 80 to 90 per cent of people with genotype 2 or 3 of HCV can be cured and about 40 to 50 per cent of people with genotype 1 HCV can be treated effectively.

Preventing HCV
Currently, there is no vaccine for HCV. The best way to prevent HCV is to avoid high-risk activities.

Is there a test for HCV?
Four categories of HCV laboratory tests are available -- (1) liver enzyme tests, (2) tests to detect antibodies to HCV, (3) tests to detect the virus, and (4) HCV genotyping.

Is there a treatment for Hepatitis C?
Pegylated Interferon Alfa 2b or 2a with Ribavirin Capsules is the recommended by doctors during the course of treatment for chronic Hepatitis C. Conventional Interferon is also prescribed with Ribavirin for treating Hepatitis C.

* One in every five with chronic HCV develop irreversible liver damage (cirrhosis)
* About one in every four with cirrhosis due to HCV, progress to liver failure and die
* HCV is responsible for as many as one in every four cases of liver cancer
* Two out of every three liver transplants are carried out on people with HCV
* At least one in every three people with HIV also have HCV
* About 175 million people worldwide suffer from HCV