Hepatitis C: key points

  • In August 2023, 4,036 people living in Scotland were diagnosed with a chronic hepatitis C infection, with further undiagnosed cases likely present in the community.

  • In 2022, 1,018 new cases of hepatitis C were diagnosed, which is consistent with the drastic decrease in incidence reported in 2020 and 2021. This reflects both the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on testing coverage in key settings, as well as a potentially shrinking population with undiagnosed infection.

  • Of those newly diagnosed, 66% (672) were male and 33% female (336), with sex not recorded in the remaining 1% (10).

  • The hepatitis C virus was first identified in 1989 and an antibody test to detect its presence became available in 1991.

  • In resource rich countries hepatitis C is usually transmitted among injecting drug users who share injecting equipment. In resource poor countries hepatitis C is usually transmitted through the receipt of infected blood / blood products.

  • Those affected by hepatitis C often have no symptoms, but in the long-term the infection may progress to cirrhosis (scarring of the liver), liver cancer or liver failure.

  • No vaccine is available, but treatment with direct-action antivirals (DAAs) clears the virus in more than 90% of cases.

 

Section updates:

  • The last update of this section was completed in December 2024.
  • The next update is due to be carried out in March 2025.