Therapy for Acute Hepatitis C

Abstract

Infection with the hepatitis C virus (HCV) is now the most frequent cause of chronic hepatitis, cirrhosis, and hepatocellular carcinoma in the United States and most Western nations.¹³ Population-based surveys show that 1 to 2 percent of adults in the United States are chronically infected with HCV.² Although hepatitis C has been described as an epidemic and a national emergency, the epidemic reflects the identification of chronic cases rather than a large outbreak of new cases.Acute hepatitis C is no longer very common in the United States. The incidence has decreased from a peak level of 250,000 to . . .