No evidence of breast-feeding transmission exists. Given the inability of the immune system to clear this infection, approximately 85 percent of the people infected with HCV will develop chronic hepatitis. This infection is characterized by low-grade persistent damage to the cellular structure of the liver. This process eventually results in severe complications after several years of almost no clinical symptoms. After initial exposure, virtually all patients develop liver cell damage, as shown by the increase in blood of a liver enzyme known as ALT or alanine aminotranferase.
Liver failure following initial infection is unlikely.
For those people who failed to clear this infection and became chronically infected, the progress of the disease is relatively slow, advancing gradually over a period of 10 to 40 years. The longer the person has been infected with HCV, the more likely the complications will appear. It could take around 20 years for HCV to cause liver cirrhosis. This term refers to the process of scarring inflicted upon the liver by the premature death of its cellular structure. The presence of cirrhosis is known to be a precursor to the development of liver cancer.