Can one get over hepatitis C?

* Infection with HCV is self-limited (this means you can get better)
in only a small minority of infected persons. Chronic infection
develops in 70-80% of patients infected with HCV.

    * Cirrhosis develops within 20 years of disease onset in 20% of
persons with chronic infection.

    * HCC develops in 1-4% of patients with cirrhosis each year after
an average of 30 years. HCC is more common in the presence of
cirrhosis, alcoholism, and HBV co-infection.

    * With the currently recommended therapy for chronic hepatitis C,
which includes PEG-IFN and ribavirin, cure rates are as high as 60%.