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Symptomatic acute hepatitis C occurs in only about 15% of patients who are infected with hepatitis C virus (HCV). Acute hepatitis C is most often diagnosed in the setting of post-exposure surveillance, or seroconversion in high-risk individuals (eg, health-care professionals or injecting drug users) previously known to be seronegative. Although transmission via transfusion and injecting drug use has declined in developed countries, unsafe blood products and medical practices continue to increase transmission of HCV in many developing countries. Clinically, acute hepatitis C can increase concentrations of alanine aminotransferase to ten times the upper limit of normal but almost never causes fulminant hepatic failure. Diagnosis of HCV infection in the acute phase is difficult since production of antibodies against HCV can be delayed by up to 12 weeks, and about a third of infected individuals might not have …