THE number of people living with hepatitis C has soared in East Lancashire.

New figures show that 1,023 people in Blackburn and Darwen were estimated to have the blood-borne virus last year, up from 693 in 2009.

Overall cases in the rest of Lancashire are thought to have risen from 3,265 to 5,711.

Hepatitis C is an infection of the liver, which can cause liver problems, cancer and even death if untreated.

Treating people infected with the disease is costing Blackburn with Darwen £831,000 and Lancashire £4,638,000 per year, according to the Health Protection Agency North West.

It said at least 22,500 people in the region were living with chronic hepatitis C disease and the annual cost of treating them was £32million.

But the HPA’s annual hepatitis C report for 2011 said that this figure was likely to be an underestimation of the true burden of disease as the “pre-valence of hepatitis C in the North West was high compared to other regions.”

Dr Evdokia Dardamissis, consultant in health protection, said: “Hepatitis C remains a major public health problem.

“We are working closely with our partners to improve surveillance and research and to increase public awareness, particularly amongst injecting drug users because they are at greatest risk in this region.

“If we can raise public awareness, the people who are most at risk can take measures to prevent themselves from becoming infected and those who are already infected can be brought into highly effective treatment programmes.”

The majority of cases were caused by injecting drug users — the most common risk factor.