According to the Center for Disease Control and Prevention there are more than three million people in the United States that are living with Hepatitis C. Hepatitis C may be the most common of the blood born viruses, but it may also be the least understood of the blood born viruses.

Hepatitis C may go away

A very small percentage of the people who contract Hepatitis C have the disease go away on its own volition. The remaining people, about seventy five to eighty five percent of the people will develop a chronic case of the disease. As time passes the disease may cause liver failure or liver cancer. Hepatitis C is the number one reason that people in the United States get liver transplants according to information from the Center for Disease Control.

Hepatitis C may go Undetected

You can have Hepatitis C and have no obvious symptoms of the disease. The Center for Disease Control and Prevention recommends that everyone born between 1945 and 1965 be tested for this condition. They also recommend that anyone that has gotten a tattoo from an unregulated source be tested, and anyone who has used intravenous drugs be tested, and anyone that has received whole blood be tested.

Hepatitis C Virus can live Outside the Body

This may be the most common blood born virus, but this nasty little virus can survive outside a human host for at least four days. It can live on toothbrushes, and on razors. It can be contagious even after the blood has dried according to the Department of Health and Human Services.

Not all People with Hepatitis C were Drug Users

Often time’s people who have this condition are treated as if they contracted it in a back alley shooting up drugs, or worse. This disease lives outside the body for up to four days and often people are infected because they were given infected blood in a transfusion, or they were accidentally stuck by a needle in a health care facility. People can become infected if they come in contact with a bloody bandage. Just because a person has Hepatitis C does not mean they are at fault.

Hepatitis C is NOT always a Death Sentence

Over ninety percent of the time the drugs used to treat this virus are capable of getting rid of the virus. Hepatitis C can be treated and most people recover from it.

There are several drugs that can be used to treat this condition. These include Sovaldi, Olysio, Viekira, and Pak.

The main thing that people suffering from this disease need is support from friends and loved ones. If you know someone battling this disease you need to educate yourself about the condition, and the symptoms so you can be there to encourage and support your friend. Do not believe everything you hear about the disease, actually seek out pertinent information and base your support on the facts you have.