HCV Fact Sheet

About Hepatitis C

• The hepatitis C virus (HCV) is spread mainly through blood-to-blood contact. This includes exposure from remote blood transfusions or medical procedures, and through shared needles for injection drug use or for tattoos.
• Individuals who had a blood transfusion or received blood products prior to July 1990 are at increased risk.
• The vast majority of people living with hepatitis C are baby boomers who likely acquired the disease as children.¹
• It is now recommended all adults born between 1945 and 1975 undergo a test for hepatitis C.²
• To determine if a person has hepatitis C, a hepatitis C antibody test is required which can be accessed through a health care provider.
• If the body is not able to fight off HCV, chronic hepatitis may develop which can lead to cirrhosis (liver scarring), liver failure, liver cancer or the need for a liver transplant later in life.
• Chronic hepatitis C is a “silent” disease because often no symptoms appear until the liver is severely damaged. Severe liver disease can develop up to 20-30 years after onset of infection.³
• Curative therapy for hepatitis C is now available for individuals showing signs of liver disease.
• Individuals are considered cured of HCV when they have achieved a sustained virological response, meaning a continuation of undetectable viral load status, 12-24 weeks after completing a course of treatment.

Prevalence of Hepatitis C in Canada

• The Public Health Agency of Canada (PHAC) estimates 242,500 people are currently infected with the hepatitis C, or six to seven people out of every 1,000 Canadians.⁴
• In 2012 over 10,000 new hepatitis C cases were reported in Canada. Injection drug use is the most significant exposure route for HCV in Canada, accounting for approximately 60 per cent of all new HCV infections.⁵
• There are an estimated 50,000-60,000 people living with the virus in BC. About 2,500 new cases of hepatitis C are identified in the province each year.⁶
• An estimated 44 per cent of Canadians living with chronic hepatitis C infection were unaware of their status (97,107 to 108,234).⁷
• Many people in Canada and around the world living with hepatitis C are unaware and it is often not detected until symptoms appear.⁸

Disease Burden in Canada

• In Canada, hepatitis C is the leading cause of liver transplants.⁹
• Early treatment of hepatitis C can reduce transmission and long-term management costs. This is the concept behind Treatment as Prevention¨, which has been successfully implemented in British Columbia to curb HIV transmission. The province has seen a 65 per cent decline in new HIV cases since 1994.¹⁰
• Combined with indirect costs of hepatitis C, the financial burden of the disease in Canada was estimated at $500 million annually in 2000, projected to have reached $1 billion in 2010.¹¹