15,000

Number of Americans who died from hepatitis C between 1999 and 2007 — more than were killed by HIV over the same time period. Deaths from hepatitis C have been increasing steadily in recent years, mostly in middle-aged adults, in part because many people don’t know they have the disease. About 3.2 million Americans are infected with hepatitis C, which can be spread through IV drug use, sex and blood transfusions before 1992, and is a major cause of liver cancer and cirrhosis. [via Health.com]

  • Share
  • Read Later