- There are over 4 million people in the US who are infected with the hepatitis C virus. Approximately 50% to 70% of people infected do not know that they have this infection
- It is estimated that there are over 130,000 people in the State of Missouri who have hepatitis C. The majority of these patients live in the St. Louis Metropolitan area (about 45,000) and in the Kansas City Metropolitan area.
- Hepatitis C is 5 times more prevalent than HIV/AIDS
- An estimated 25,000 people are newly infected with hepatitis C each year in the US and this number is increasing due to increased heroin use
- 10,000 – 12,000 people die of complications from hepatitis C each year in the US; the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) estimates that the number of deaths from hepatitis C will triple in the next 10 – 20 years
- The estimated medical and work loss costs per year from hepatitis C is over $1 billion in the US
- African-Americans have the highest rate of infection with hepatitis C in the US
You are at risk of hepatitis C infection if you:
- have ever injected or inhaled illegal drugs, even if you only experimented once many years ago
- partnersreceived a blood transfusion or solid organ transplant before July 1992
- received a blood product for clotting problems produced before 1987
- have ever been on long-term kidney dialysis
- have received a tattoo or body piercing in unsafe conditions
- have unprotected sex with multiple partners
