How common is hepatitis C?
The CDC estimates that 3.2 million people in the U.S have chronic hepatitis C infection, a long-term illness that happens when the virus remains in a person’s body. Most of those people don’t know that they have it because they don’t look or feel sick, the CDC’s web site states. An estimated 19,000 people in the U.S. have acute hepatitis C infection, which is a short-term illness that happens within six months of being exposed to the hepatitis C virus.
