Hepatitis C can affect one person much differently than it does someone else. Of the people who have the
hepatitis C virus for 20 years, approximately 20 percent (1 out of 5 people) will have severe scarring (
cirrhosis) in their liver.
It is estimated that 8,000 to 10,000 people a year die from chronic liver disease caused by hepatitis C.
Statistics on the Hepatitis C Genotype
Just as there are different types of hepatitis viruses, there are also a few different types of the hepatitis C virus itself. These are known as
hepatitis C genotypes. The main hepatitis C genotypes are known simply as: genotype 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, and 6.
Of the different hepatitis C genotypes, genotype 1 is the type most commonly found in the United States. Between 70 to 90 percent of Americans with hepatitis C have this genotype. Hepatitis C virus genotypes 2 and 3 are less common. Only 10 to 20 percent of infected people in this country have either of these genotypes.
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