Hepatitis C Virus and the Infectious Diseases Community

It is a perfect storm for the chronic viral infection associated with the greatest morbidity and mortality in the United States. Of the ≥3 million Americans infected with hepatitis C virus (HCV), only ≤50% know they are infected. Infections acquired many years ago from parenteral exposures—injection drug use, transfusions received before screening assay availability (in 1992), or other healthcare exposures—have either no or nonspecific (but highly prevalent) symptoms, such as fatigue, arthritis, and depression. Clinicians tend to discount the extrahepatic effects of HCV infection, although HCV has been associated with diabetes and other serious morbidities. Now, after latencies of 20–30 years, there are rapidly increasing cases of cirrhosis,end-stageliverdisease,hepatocellularcarcinoma,