I know absolutely nothing about hep A or B but I was diagnosed with hep c 3 years ago. I am only now about to start interferon treatment (which my doctor likened to chemotherapy for cancer patients) and up until now have had no bad symptoms.
It all deprnds on the persons "viral load", the genotype (hep C 1, hep c 3a, etc) adn the person. women fight it better than men. And the younger the better. Some people even fight it off completely on their own while others like my cousin's friend might notice they're kinda yellow today then die a week later.
Also, hepatitis is a very slowly moving disease so no major changes may happen for years. Some people don't even learn they have it until a routine trip to the doctor's 10 years later. THe most important thing is to get some bloodwork done and analyzed to track the progression. BUt yes, the family and the infected person definitely have a choicee.