Hepatitis C in Minnesota

Twenty-nine Hepatitis C infections were newly diagnosed in 2012 in Minnesota, according to the state Department of Health. Nearly 40,000 people with current or prior Hepatitis C infections lived in Minnesota in 2012, with 34 percent in Minneapolis or St. Paul, 28 percent in the metro suburbs and 38 percent residing in the rest of the state.

While many of those viral infections are asymptomatic, some result in severe conditions such as cirrhosis (a scarring of the liver) or require liver ­transplants.