Complications
HCV damages the liver. Of people infected with HCV, 55 to 85 percent develop chronic infection and 75 percent of those with chronic infection develop chronic liver disease.
The symptoms of liver damage may not appear for several years. If you have chronic hepatitis C, your healthcare provider may need to do a liver biopsy to diagnose chronic liver disease. Unfortunately, by the time a provider diagnoses serious liver disease, liver damage can be considerable and even irreversible. This damage often results in end-stage liver disease, cirrhosis, or liver cancer.
Because other hepatitis viruses and alcohol use are associated with faster progression of the disease, health experts advise infected people to avoid drinking alcohol and to be vaccinated against hepatitis A and hepatitis B viruses.