Thousands of Britons are known to have died or suffered from the infected blood scandal, which has been labeled the worst treatment disaster in the history of the NHS.
But it is believed that hundreds of others, especially women, are unknowingly living with the consequences of the scandal to this day.
Some who are infected with hepatitis C as a result of receiving contaminated blood only learned they were infected after the virus destroyed their liver, leaving them with lifelong damage.
Charities have warned that they are helping an average of two people a month who were only told they were infected decades ago.
In the 1970s and 1980s, thousands of men, women and children received blood products that, unknowingly, were contaminated with HIV and/or hepatitis C.
Protesters pictured with placards in London in July 2023 as Prime Minister Rishi Sunak was questioned by the Infected Blood Inquiry
These tainted donations came from American prisoners, sex workers and drug addicts, who were paid to give their blood to the product’s manufacturers.
Around 30,000 patients in Britain are known to have received unsafe blood products in the 1970s and 1980s, potentially exposing them to hepatitis C and HIV.
It is believed that around 3,000 people have since died as a result, although the actual toll could be higher.
Patients receiving the products often had hemophilia or other bleeding disorders, requiring frequent transfusions.
Others received them during surgery, either for routine planned operations or for emergency procedures, as well as for deliveries.
Victims have faced years of dismissal from ministers and the NHS for their symptoms, and stigma from their communities for having HIV.
What made the scandal even worse was the lack of follow-up care in tracing people who were infected.
Survivors and families of the dead have been involved in a four-decade battle for compensation and an apology from the government for the way they were treated.
But it is believed that another 1,750 people, mostly women, are still unknowingly living with hepatitis C after becoming infected with contaminated blood products decades earlier.
This figure was obtained by a BBC investigationexamining documents submitted to the official investigation into infected blood.
Other estimates of the unknown figure are higher, with some charities saying ‘thousands’ may have been infected in this way.
There have also been cases of women passing hepatitis C to their children while they were developing in the womb.
About 64 percent, the majority of victims, are believed to be women, in line with known figures for patients who received contaminated blood products.
One of the most damning aspects of the scandal has been the general inability of the government and the NHS to try for years to trace those who may have been infected.
Patient tracing efforts began in earnest in 1995, later than other countries similarly affected by the contaminated products.
The British effort was not only delayed but also piecemeal. It was not led nationally, but instead was largely left to individual NHS organizations to track potentially infected patients.
This led to a postcode lottery where patients were told not only were they infected, but were also offered tests and treatment.
The end result is that some patients have endured hepatitis C problems for years without explanation and are only now discovering that they have the disease.
Charity, The Hep C Trust, which is committed to eliminating hepatitis C in Britain by 2030, says that on average around two people a month call the helpline after receiving a diagnosis resulting from a blood transfusion 30 years ago.
Tragically, this often happens in circumstances where a patient has suffered severe liver damage from the infection.
Vanessa Hebditch, director of communications and policy at another charity, The British Liver Trust, said people infected in this way, like many victims of the contaminated blood scandal, deserve better.
“The people affected by this tragedy not only deserve to know the truth about exactly what happened and the level of negligence that occurred, but also deserve adequate compensation,” she said.
Hepatitis C is a virus that can infect the liver and potentially cause lifelong damage to the organ.
People are mainly infected with hepatitis C through exposure to infected blood.
This usually occurs through needle sharing during drug use, but also through improperly cleaned equipment in operating rooms and tattoo parlors.
However, blood transfusions are another, but now rare, thanks to screening, way to become infected.
There is also a lower risk of contracting hepatitis C through sexual contact.
If left untreated, hepatitis C can cause serious and potentially life-threatening damage to the liver for many years.
Only about one in three out of four patients show early signs of hepatitis C infection in the weeks after infection.
These symptoms include high temperature, fatigue, loss of appetite, stomach pain, nausea and vomiting.
However, the majority of patients do not show these symptoms and the problems do not develop until many years after the infection.
The symptoms of long-term hepatitis C vary widely but include chronic fatigue, joint and muscle pain, nausea, brain fog, mood swings and depression, indigestion or bloating, itchy skin, and abdominal pain.
Untreated long-term hepatitis C infection also often causes cirrhosis, a severe scarring of the liver.
Signs of cirrhosis may include jaundice, vomiting blood, dark stools, and a buildup of fluid in the legs or abdomen.
Part of the tragedy of people unknowingly becoming infected is that hepatitis C is now easily treated with tablets taken for eight to 12 weeks.
Making a diagnosis has often been a challenge for patients, especially women, who have been infected with a blood product or transfusion.
Female victims have shared stories of their hepatitis C symptoms being dismissed by doctors as stress or blamed on another problem, such as menopause.
The NHS advice states that people who received a blood transfusion or blood product before September 1991 have a small chance of being infected with hepatitis C.
After this date, the risk from blood products and transfusions is considered extremely low, as this is when the NHS began checking donations for the hepatitis C virus.
In practice, most patients only find out that they may have been a victim after they have finally been tested for hepatitis C.
This is often done after the symptoms and damage caused by the disease have become impossible for doctors to ignore.
An analysis of a patient’s medical records can then reveal the possibility that they were infected by a contaminated blood product or a transfusion.
People who think they may have hepatitis C England And Wales can order a free NHS testing kit for the virus which will arrive through the post.
In Scotland and Northern Ireland, people can access these tests through their GP.