Due to advances in research methods, hepatitis viruses can be visualized in microscopic detail, grown in culture, and characterized fully at the genome level; hepatitis C virus (HCV) infection can be cured with drugs that block the virus’s enzymatic and replicative activities. Short-term oral therapies produce sustained virologic responses in more than 95% patients with chronic HCV infections of all genotypes—even in patients with compensated cirrhosis.1 These advances have increased the possibility that HCV might be eliminate or eradicated worldwide, even without a vaccine (see the article in this issue by John W.