An estimated 4.1 million Americans have hepatitis C, a serious and sometimes fatal disease that attacks the liver. It's been called a hidden epidemic because many of those infected don't realize they have it. Typically, this insidious disease attacks the liver of its unsuspecting host without causing any detectable signs or symptoms for decades.

In this piece, reporter Laurie Udesky examines the urgent need for people in high-risk groups to get tested for hepatitis C. She profiles two high-risk individuals living with hepatitis C -- one a blood transfusion recipient, the other former intravenous drug user Ernie Sandoval -- and traces the dramatic challenges that each has had to overcome. She also looks at the hope offered by new treatment options and the debate over who should be treated.

Also featured is Emmet Keeffe, MD, chief of hepatology at Stanford University Medical Center in Palo Alto, California. Keeffe explains that IV drug use is the most common risk factor for hepatitis C. For this reason, he says, anyone who has used injectable drugs, such as heroin, even once and even 20 or 30 years ago, should be screened for the hepatitis C virus. Treatments today are far better than they were several decades ago, he explains, although new research suggests that people who haven't developed liver disease may be better off without aggressive treatment.

Click to listen to Consumer Health Interactive's in-depth audio report (10:00 min).

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First published December 16, 2003
Last updated May 6, 2008
Copyright © 2003 Consumer Health Interactive