History of Hepatitis C

Hepatitis A and B have been known about for a long time. They are both severe conditions which affect the liver. Some time ago doctors noticed that recipients of blood transfusions occasionally ran a slight fever and had mild liver inflammation for a few days after transfusion. They called this Hepatitis Non-A-Non-B as it fitted neither of the two known types. The condition rarely caused a problem and was usually ignored.

Later research determined that the cause of Non-A-Non-B was a virus which was designated Hepatitis C. Since then Hepatitis D, E, etc, have been discovered. At first Hepatitis C was thought to be mainly harmless. Later research associated the virus with liver cancer and liver failure, usually but not always, after a long incubation period.

In 1991 a blood test was introduced by the British Blood Transfusion Service and all donations were tested from then onwards which effectively stopped the virus being transferred by blood transfusions. All blood products are now heat treated to kill off any virus present as an additional precaution.

Unfortunately, by then the damage was done, and hundreds of thousands of people throughout the world had been infected, most unknowingly.

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