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The Nobel Prize Is a Reminder of Hepatitis C’s Dark History
Charting the virus’ map of destruction
Yesterday, three scientists were awarded the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine for the discovery of the hepatitis C virus. The discovery led to a curative treatment for the widespread, fatal virus, which infects somewhere between 71 million and 170 million people worldwide. This chronic disease is often silent for many years, but eventually it may cause cirrhosis, skin problems, blood disorders, and weight loss. In its most severe stages, hepatitis C can lead to liver damage, liver cancer, and liver failure. While a hepatitis C diagnosis today is not necessarily a death sentence, the virus has left a centuries-long trail of destruction. Tracing the history of this virus reveals some of the most disconcerting of human behaviors, and a lesson in ways in which poverty and oppression shape global health.
Ancient Egypt is a case in point, a country where hepatitis C rose to epidemic proportions due to poverty and its accompanying perilous living conditions and poor sanitation. That story begins on the banks of the Nile River, which, starting at least 5,000 years ago, was home to a centuries-long infestation of snails that was nearly impossible to eradicate.
