With people’s concern for health, more and more people have begun to pay attention to and understand hepatitis B. Medical examinations have also included hepatitis B as a routine screening item, but there is another common clinical viral hepatitis whose incidence is second only to hepatitis B and which brings no less harm than hepatitis B. That is hepatitis C. According to the World Health Organization, there are more than 180 million people infected with hepatitis C worldwide. About 20-30% of patients are at risk of developing cirrhosis and liver cancer. However, hepatitis C does not get as much attention as hepatitis B. Today we’ll get to know hepatitis C. Hepatitis C is short for viral hepatitis C, a viral hepatitis caused by hepatitis C virus (HCV) infection, so what harm does it do to us? We often say that hepatitis B is the “silent killer”, but hepatitis C is similar to hepatitis B in that the onset is more insidious, with studies showing that 80% of patients have few or no obvious symptoms, often just feeling weak, and some patients also experience other symptoms such as discomfort in the liver area, loss of appetite and nausea. This results in most patients being found at an advanced stage and missing the best time for treatment. Let’s take a look at the development process of hepatitis C: from the chart we can see that up to 80% of acute hepatitis C will be transformed into chronic hepatitis C, followed by the development of cirrhosis and liver cancer, while the chronic rate of hepatitis B is only 5%, the degree of chronicity of hepatitis C is much higher than that of hepatitis B. Of these, 20-30% will go on to develop cirrhosis and liver cancer, which are difficult to treat. Hepatitis C is an RNA virus that is prone to mutation, so there is no vaccine for the hepatitis C virus, and physical examinations do not routinely include hepatitis C as a screening test, plus the symptoms are not obvious. This makes early diagnosis and prevention difficult. Hepatitis C is dangerous to humans and not easily detected, so who does it “favor”? Epidemiological studies have found that hepatitis C can be divided into two categories: post-transfusion and disseminated hepatitis C. The most common route of infection is through blood transfusions. The most common route of infection is through blood transfusions and the use of blood products. Some of the other routes of infection for disseminated hepatitis C may be related to needle tattoos, skin injuries, intravenous drug dependence, hemodialysis, mother-to-child and sexual contact transmission, etc. Therefore, the following groups of people are at high risk for hepatitis C and should be given extra attention. People who have received blood products: Especially those who received blood transfusions and blood products (such as immunoglobulin, gammaglobulin, etc.) before 1996. However, there is a “window period” for hepatitis C, and it is not yet possible to screen for hepatitis C virus 100% of the time. The HCV infection should be screened for in people with a history of blood transfusion. Intravenous drug dependents: These are mainly people who use drugs intravenously and are infected by sharing syringes with each other. Among the drug-using population, HCV infection rates among intravenous drug users are as high as 61%-64%, significantly higher than among non-intravenous drug users. Hemodialysis and organ transplant recipients: This is mainly due to repeated blood transfusions over a long period of time, poor sterilization and isolation, and cross-infection due to not using disposable dialysis equipment. Sexual promiscuity or prostitution: Sexual transmission is one of the main ways of HCV infection, and studies have found that people with other STDs are more likely to be infected with HCV than the general healthy population. Infants: HCV infection is mainly transmitted intrauterine by mothers with HCV infection, and is usually better transferred. Other people who have been exposed to poorly sterilized dental treatments, infusions and injections in their daily lives, as well as tattoos and ear piercings, may also be infected with HCV. Other health care workers who have frequent contact with blood and are at risk for needle-stick infections should also be alert for HCV infection. In China, people are much less aware of hepatitis C than hepatitis B, but the dangers of hepatitis C are much greater than those of hepatitis B. We should pay attention to screening for hepatitis C. Early detection, early treatment, to avoid the “silent killer” of hepatitis C to bring us health risks.