Hepatitis C is a virus carried in the bloodstream that can cause potentially lethal liver problems, and for which there is no vaccine available.
Marianne Faithfull, who is a former heroin addict, admitted she had taken "a lot of risks, " and, although she didn’t say so, it is possible she contracted the virus at that point in her life.
Hepatitis C virus is usually transmitted through blood-to-blood contact but can remain dormant in the body. A person can contract hepatitis C by sharing needles for drug use, tattooing or body piercing, by getting a blood transfusion from someone carrying the disease, or by being born to an infected mother.
Actress Pamela Anderson, famous for starring in Baywatch, also has hepatitis C that she said she got from sharing a tattoo needle with her ex-husband, the rock musician Tommy Lee.
