hepatitis C virus
Meaning of hepatitis C virus: Hepatitis C virus is a bloodborne virus that infects the liver, often persisting for years and gradually causing scarring if left untreated.
Definition of hepatitis C virus
Hepatitis C virus is a virus that infects the liver and causes hepatitis, or inflammation of that organ. It is spread mainly through contact with infected blood, including through shared needles, and less commonly through sexual contact or from a parent to an infant during birth.
Many people infected with hepatitis C virus have few or no symptoms at first, and the infection frequently becomes chronic, persisting in the body for years without being noticed. Over time, chronic infection can lead to progressive liver scarring, called fibrosis, which can advance to cirrhosis and increases the risk of liver cancer.
Hepatitis C virus infection is generally identified through blood testing, and effective antiviral medications exist that can clear the virus from the body in most people who complete treatment, a development that has considerably changed the long term outlook for those diagnosed.
Also known as
Used in a sentence
Blood testing confirmed hepatitis C virus infection after the patient's routine screening returned a positive result.
Good to know
Hepatitis C infection is frequently silent for years, so liver damage can progress substantially before the infection is recognized through routine blood testing.
Word origin
Where “hepatitis C virus” comes from
Formed from Greek hepar, hepatos, meaning liver, and the suffix -itis, meaning inflammation. The letter C simply distinguishes this virus from other unrelated hepatitis viruses, such as hepatitis A and hepatitis B, identified separately.