Hepatitis C is a liver infection caused by the Hepatitis C virus (HCV). Hepatitis C is spread through contact with blood from an infected person. Today, most people become infected with the Hepatitis C virus by sharing needles or other equipment used to prepare and inject drugs. For some people, Hepatitis C is a short-term illness, but for more than half of people who become infected with the Hepatitis C virus, it becomes a long-term, chronic infection. Chronic Hepatitis C can result in serious, even life-threatening health problems like cirrhosis and liver cancer.1 There are potentially 4.7 million people living with Chronic Hepatitis C in the United States2 and 4,136 reports of Acute Hepatitis C diagnoses in 2019.1

There is currently no vaccine to prevent the transmission of HCV.