Hepatitis C is caused by a virus carried by blood. This possibly fatal disease causes severe liver damage in those infected by it. It has been reported that four million Americans are chronically infected with hepatitis C. AIDS is caused by the human immunodeficiency virus, which damages a patient’s immune system. According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, there were 468,578 people living with AIDS in the United States in 2007.
Methods of Transmission
Both AIDS and hepatitis C are illnesses carried in blood. Before the awareness of these diseases grew and blood product testing began, both of them were commonly transmitted via transfusions and organ transplants. Luckily, this is not the case anymore, but even today, HIV and hepatitis C share common risk factors for transmission. According to “Expert Perspectives III: Strategies for the Management of HIV/HCV Coinfection,” a report published in 2001 by Projects in Knowledge, risk factors for both include high-risk sexual activity and the use of illicit drugs. Both can also be transmitted to a fetus during childbirth.
The Populations Effected
Since the main methods of transmission for these illnesses are the same, it should come as no surprise that the populations affected by AIDS and hepatitis C are also largely the same. The “Expert Perspectives III: Strategies for the Management of HIV/HCV Coinfection,” report published in 2001 by Projects in Knowledge states that 80 to 90 percent of the HIV patients who abuse drugs have also been diagnosed with HCV. AIDS and HCV also seem to be more common among certain races. African-Americans, for example, are more likely to be affected by both of these diseases. They are also more common among men than women.
Fatal Diseases
Despite the fact that the life expectancy for both hepatitis C and HIV has increased, they are still considered fatal diseases. Dr. John B. Wong, stated in a study published in the “American Journal of Public Health" Vol. 90, in 2000, that there are approximately 8,000 hepatitis C-related deaths every year in the United States. According to Avert.com, 14,561 people died of AIDs in 2007. The average HIV patient could expect to live for 10.5 years after diagnosis in 1996. That number increased to 22.5 years in 2005. This is more challenging to estimate for hepatitis C, but it is generally placed around 20 to 30 years, according to Dr. Ursula Siebert, who published a study in “An International Journal of Gastroenterology and Hepatology,” in 2005.
