Hepatitis C is even more dangerous. Like hepatitis B, it spreads when blood from an infected person enters someone who is not infected.
The hepatitis C virus belongs to the same group of viruses as yellow fever and West Nile virus. Most people living with hepatitis C develop chronic infections, often without any signs. They are at high risk for liver disease and liver cancer.
The World Health Organization says about one hundred seventy million people are infected with hepatitis C. That is three percent of the population of the world! The W.H.O. also says that as many as four million more become infected each year. It warns that those infected may develop diseases of the liver, including liver cancer. The W.H.O. says the highest rates of infection are in Africa, Asia, and Central and South America.