About the Diseases

Hepatitis C

Chronic hepatitis C is a life-threatening disease affecting the liver. The World Health Organization (WHO) has estimated that approximately 170 million people worldwide are chronically infected with the hepatitis C virus (HCV) and an additional three to four million people are infected each year. HCV is a common blood-borne pathogen with nearly a five-fold greater prevalence than human immunodeficiency virus (HIV). HCV is also the most common chronic bloodborne infection in the United States, chronically infecting approximately 3.2 million persons. [1]

Helpful links for Hepatitis C

Centers for Disease Control – Hepatitis
Contains basic CDC information (statistics, etc.) regarding
hepatitis C

National Institutes of Health
Frequently updated information about hepatitis C

National Library of Medicine
Frequently updated information about hepatitis, including recent news, symptoms/diagnosis, prevention and treatment

Hepatitis B

Chronic infection by the hepatitis B virus (HBV) is a serious global health problem.[2] It is the 10th leading cause of death in the world.[3] HBV affects approximately 350 million people globally and is responsible for up to 1.2 million deaths worldwide each year. Up to 80% of the world’s primary liver cancer, which is currently the fifth most frequent cancer worldwide, is attributable to chronic HBV.

Helpful Links for Hepatitis B

Centers for Disease Control – Hepatitis
Contains basic CDC information (statistics, etc.) regarding
hepatitis B

National Institutes of Health
Frequently updated information about hepatitis B

National Library of Medicine
Frequently updated information about hepatitis, including recent news, symptoms/diagnosis, prevention and treatment

HIV

An estimated 33 million people worldwide were living with HIV at the end of 2007. An estimated 2.7 million became newly infected with HIV and an estimated 2 million lost their lives to AIDS in 2007. Overall, the HIV incidence rate (the proportion of people who have become infected with HIV) is believed to have peaked in the late 1990s and to have stabilized subsequently, notwithstanding increasing incidence in several countries. [4]

Center for Disease Control - HIV
Frequently updated information about HIV/AIDS

National Institute of Health
Frequently updated information about HIV/AIDS, including treatment/prevention, HIV-related drugs, clinical trials for HIV/AIDS, and HIV/AIDS fact sheets

Footnotes

1. Lavanchy (2009) Liver International. 29(s1):74-81.

2. World Health Organization. Hepatitis B Fact Sheet number 204.

3. Lavanchy, D. Journal of Viral Hepatology. 2004. Mar;
11(2):97-107

4. National Institute of Health. HIV/AIDS Quick Facts. 2007