What is Hep C?
Hep C, or Hepatitis C, is a curable virus carried in the blood that impacts our livers.
Hepat (liver) + itis (inflammation) = Hepatitis
The liver is our largest internal organ. It helps us fight infections, cleans our blood, and has hundreds of other functions. We can’t live without it.
* Hep C is different from Hep A and B. Hep A and B both have vaccines, which youth can often access at no cost! There is no vaccine for Hep C, but today’s medications can cure Hep C with minimal side effects.
Without treatment, Hep C will destroy our liver cells one at a time, causing damage to our liver over time. This liver damage can impact our overall health over years.
The damage to our liver cells causes scarring, which might worsen over time. In the most severe cases, untreated Hep C can lead to liver failure or liver cancer. We can live for 20 to 30 years without knowing this is happening.
Hep C treatment can cure us of the virus and prevent the most severe forms of liver damage.