Hepatitis C has been called a hidden epidemic. Many of the estimated 4 million Americans who have the disease don’t know it, because the virus causes few symptoms until it has already damaged the liver. If hepatitis C is not treated, it can be life threatening. In the United States, the virus has been transmitted primarily through injection drug use and, prior to 1992, contaminated blood transfusions.

In this special report, reporter Laurie Udesky interviews Dr. Emmet Keeffe, the chief of the hepatology department at Stanford University Medical Center and an expert on hepatitis C. She talks with Keeffe about what scientists have learned about this stealth virus and how their understanding of its inner workings has led to the possibility of curing more people.

Keeffe says that well-crafted studies show that medication has been able to cure some people of hepatitis C; in a number of cases, treatment has even reversed the liver damage caused by the disease. But Keeffe says that the hepatitis C virus is still an urgent public health issue that's just not reaching the people at greatest risk. "Anybody who shot up drugs even once should be tested," Keeffe says. The earlier someone is tested and diagnosed, the more likely he or she will have a better outcome.

Click to listen to Consumer Health Interactive's in-depth audio report.

If you'd like to read the audio script, click here.

Digital Audio Team

Reporter, writer, producer, and digital audio editor: Laurie Udesky
Script editors: Elaine Herscher and Psyche Pascual
Sound engineer: Laurie Udesky
Web engineering: Eric Turner

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First published March 28, 2006
Last updated May 12, 2008
Copyright © 2006 Consumer Health Interactive