They presented their findings at a meeting of the American Association for the Study of Liver Diseases on Monday. Hepatitis C, a blood-borne viral disease, is estimated to affect about 170 million people worldwide, and about five million in Europe. In about a third of all cases, the disease leads to a chronic infection that can cause fatal liver disease.
Liver damage can become so severe that the only option is a transplant.
Massive increase The research was headed by Dr Gary Davis, a researcher at Florida University. The disease can be treated with expensive drug therapies and the incidence of new infections appears to be declining. However, the researchers said it appears that only a small number of cases are being treated. The rise in cases is thought to be due to intravenous drug use and blood transfusions given before blood banks began screening for the virus in the early 1990s. Many people carry the disease for many years with few symptoms.