Bulgarians who have hepatitis B are 450 000, while those with hepatitis C – 100 000, according to data from the National Association against Hepatitis – "Hepassist."

The Coordinator of the Association, Vesela Slavova, however, points out there is no official statistics and the data might not be fully accurate since the ailment is often without symptoms, and those infected are not treated and do not undertake measures to protect family members.

From all five viruses of the hepatitis – A, B, C, D and E, only B and C can cause long-term, chronic illness. The hepatitis can be acute (lasting less than 6 months) and chronic (longer than 6 months), according to Slavova.

Meanwhile, the World Health Association, WHO, published Wednesday their data, showing that anywhere between 3 and 4 million people become infected with hepatitis C each year, which is a serious virus infections, damaging the liver, also called the "silent killer." 350 000 die from it each year, according to WHO.

Hepatitis C and B, together kill nearly 1 million people a year with nearly 2 billion being currently infected and one of every three being exposed to them.

There is no vaccine for hepatitis C, as it is for the B virus.

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