It is most commonly transmitted by injecting drug users who share needles. Sexual transmission is uncommon. Hepatitis C virus is responsible for many cases of chronic hepatitis and some cases of cirrhosis and liver cancer. A small proportion of healthy people appear to be chronic carriers of the hepatitis C virus. Hepatitis D virus occurs only as a co-infection with hepatitis B virus, and it makes the hepatitis B infection more severe.
Drug addicts are at relatively high risk.
Hepatitis E virus causes occasional epidemics similar to those caused by hepatitis A virus. So far, these epidemics have occurred only in underdeveloped countries. Symptoms and Diagnosis Symptoms of acute viral hepatitis usually begin suddenly. They include a poor appetite, a feeling of being ill, nausea, vomiting, and often a fever. In people who smoke, a distaste for cigarettes is a typical symptom.