Hepatitis C virus infection: Newer paradigms

Infections caused by hepatitis C virus (HCV) lead to persistent infection in most of the times and may cause fibrosis of liver, cirrhosis and hepatocellular carcinoma. At present, there is no vaccine available for prevention or treatment of it. With the development of newer and effective anti viral drugs, most of the infections are curable. But a proportion of infections may progress to cirrhosis of liver /or hepatocelllar carcinoma in spite of being cured from the infection. So, early diagnosis of HCV infections and treatment with effective antiviral drugs is required for prevention of end stage liver disease.