If hepatitis C were really harming my health, I would have symptoms.

Symptoms of hepatitis C are often mild or absent altogether—80% of people with hepatitis C have no signs or symptoms of the disease —but liver damage can occur with or without hepatitis C symptoms.

If I had hepatitis C, I would know how I got it. Only people who have a history of risky behavior need to be tested.

30% of people with chronic hepatitis C don't know how they got it. Anyone who wants testing and information should have the opportunity to get it.

Since hepatitis C is a long-term condition, treatment will be just as effective if I wait until later to start.

Studies have found that heptatitis C patients who are treated before liver damage occurs may respond better to treatment.

Hepatitis C is not as common as HIV.

HCV now infects more than 4 times more Americans than HIV.

Only people who use drugs on a long-term basis are at high risk for hepatitis C.

IV drug use, even once or a few times many years ago, is a major risk factor for hepatitis C.

Everyone with hepatitis C is depressed.

Not everyone with hepatitis C is depressed, although being chronically ill can cause people to feel down. One of the risks of treatment with Interferon is increasing anxiety or depression, and it is often difficult to determine whether these effects are due to the illness itself or due to the effects of treatment.

The side effects of prescription treatment are worse than the disease itself.

Though side effects of treatment can be challenging, many patients find them tolerable. Also, serious side effects do not occur in everybody.

Injection interferon needs to be taken 3 times per week.

Pegylated interferon, the current standard for treatment, is only taken once a week.

Only about 40% of people have a positive response to treatment.

Response rates are significantly higher for some types of patients. And even if therapy does not rid your body of the virus completely, it may help reduce inflammation.

If my liver enzymes are normal, my disease is under control.

Although these are often tested and can be useful in many situations, liver enzyme levels alone are not considered an accurate test of the progression of your condition.

Treatment does not work for patients of African American descent.

Current treatments have shown encouraging response rates in patients of African American descent.

If the level of the hepatitis C virus in my blood is low, my disease is not so bad

Viral load alone does not give a clear picture of the progression of the disease and the health of your liver.