Editing Hepatitis C (section)

=== Acute infection ===
[[Acute (medicine)|Acute]] symptoms develop in some 20% of those infected.<ref name=whofactsheet /><ref name=CDC2016/> When this occurs, it is generally 4–12 weeks following infection (but it may take from 2 weeks to 6 months for acute symptoms to appear).<ref name=CDC2016/><ref name=whofactsheet />

Symptoms are generally mild and vague, and may include fatigue, [[nausea]] and vomiting, fever, [[myalgia|muscle]] or [[Arthralgia|joint pains]], abdominal pain, [[Anorexia (symptom)|decreased appetite]] and weight loss, jaundice (occurs in ~25% of those infected), dark urine, and clay-coloured stools.<ref name=CDC2016/><ref name="Book2011p4">{{cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=6G7mff5DnBQC&pg=PA4|title=Chronic Hepatitis C Virus Advances in Treatment, Promise for the Future|publisher=Springer Verlag|year=2011|isbn=978-1-4614-1191-8|page=14|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160617181023/https://books.google.com/books?id=6G7mff5DnBQC&pg=PA4|archive-date=2016-06-17|url-status=live}}</ref><ref name="AFP2010">{{cite journal | vauthors = Wilkins T, Malcolm JK, Raina D, Schade RR | title = Hepatitis C: diagnosis and treatment | journal = American Family Physician | volume = 81 | issue = 11 | pages = 1351–1357 | date = June 2010 | pmid = 20521755 | url = http://www.aafp.org/afp/2010/0601/p1351.pdf | url-status = live | archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20130521071850/http://www.aafp.org/afp/2010/0601/p1351.pdf | archive-date = 2013-05-21 }}</ref> Acute liver failure due to acute hepatitis C is exceedingly rare.<ref name="Rao2022">{{cite journal | vauthors = Rao A, Rule JA, Cerro-Chiang G, Stravitz RT, McGuire BM, Lee G, Fontana RJ, Lee WM | display-authors = 6 | title = Role of Hepatitis C Infection in Acute Liver Injury/Acute Liver Failure in North America | journal = Digestive Diseases and Sciences | volume = 68 | issue = 1 | pages = 304–311 | date = January 2023 | pmid = 35546205 | pmc = 9094131 | doi = 10.1007/s10620-022-07524-6 }}</ref> Symptoms and laboratory findings suggestive of liver disease should prompt further tests and can thus help establish a diagnosis of hepatitis C infection early on.<ref name=AFP2010/>

Following the acute phase, the infection may resolve spontaneously in 10–50% of affected people; this occurs more frequently in young people and females.<ref name="Book2011p4" />