Hepatitis C Infection: A Case Study

This research paper is going to review today’s silent killer, the Hepatitis C virus. This paper will talk about the description of the disease, the signs and symptoms, the etiology and risk factors, diagnostic studies, treatments and prognosis of this disease. I had lived with this disease for over ten years before diagnosed so it is important to understand the signs and symptoms so the disease can be identified and a treatment plan can be identified as the sooner it is treated the more likely it will eradicate the disease.

Liver cirrhosis, which is the end product of liver disease caused by HCV, is the leading cause of organ transplants in the United States (Hirsch, 2000).

The increasing number of citizens that are testing positive for Hepatitis C is shocking and the epidemic is just getting worse. One out of every one hundred people in the general population has Hepatitis C, but the ratio is higher in prisons. One out of every six inmates has Hepatitis C (Wegner, Rottnek, Parker and Crippin, 2014). Hepatitis C (HCV) is a blood disease that is caused by a virus and it affects the liver. Unfortunately there is no vaccine to prevent this disease and I have seen first-hand how ugly this virus is. I have worked in the medical field for the past 6 years and I have a very close friend who contracted HCV. Unfortunately, she was one of the many people that needed a liver transplant. HCV has infected four times as

In time the virus can lead to cirrhosis, liver cancer and liver failure. Symptoms of HCV are jaundice (yellowing of the eyes), stomach pain, nausea and fatigue. The main problem is that many people don’t have symptoms until they already have some sort of liver damage. Treatment options for HCV include a combination of medications or depending on the degree of damage, a liver transplant. Given that HCV it is a blood disease that is spread through contact with an infected person’s blood, there are many ways to contract this disease. Injection drug users, physical altercations, sexual contact and mother to infant infection are just some of the ways this disease is spread.

The strain of genotypes is not differentiated by the severity of the disease. However, there will make a distinction in the regimen and the duration of the treatment (CDC, 2016). Treatment for chronic HCV is based on guidelines from the Infectious Diseases Society of America (IDSA) and the American Associations for the Study of Liver Diseases (AASLD). The criteria of who should receive the treatment include how much the virus in the body, the strain of hepatitis C, the degree of liver inflammation or damage, comorbidity, and response to previous treatment (Infectious Diseases Society of America [IDSA], 2016). The highest priority for treatment should give to a patient with advanced fibrosis and compensated cirrhosis (IDSA, 2016). Moreover, treatment priority should provide to the patient who has a high risk of transmitting the disease from and to others, such as individuals who are active injection drug users and hemodialysis patients (IDSA, 2016).

Hepatitis C is a liver disease caused by the Hepatitis C virus. The disease can be either acute or a chronic infection, which can be mild or a lifelong disease. This disease also is the major cause of cirrhosis and liver cancer. The disease is slow moving and sometimes take up to thirty years to damage the liver. In the United States there are an estimated three to four million people with the disease and are not even aware. Approximately thirty percent of the individuals infected within six months have no symptoms and will not even be aware that they have the disease. In the remaining seventy percent infected the disease will become chronic. According to statics one hundred and seventy million people are chronically infected worldwide.

Alcohol abuse and hepatitis B and C are the most common causes of cirrhosis. Cirrhosis can cause weakness, loss of appetite, jaundice, itching, and fatigue, and can be diagnosed by blood tests, physical examinations, and a liver biopsy. There are many complications of cirrhosis, such as edema and ascites, spontaneous bacterial peritonitis, hepatic encephalopathy, portal vein hypertension, hepatorenal and hepatopulmonary syndrome, hypersplenism, and liver cancer. One of the most common treatments of cirrhosis is a liver transplant. However, alcoholics have to be sober for six months to prove that they are serious about taking care of their new liver and staying sober after the

The risk of a pregnant woman passing the hepatitis C virus to her unborn child has been related to the levels of quantitative RNA levels in her blood, and also whether she is also HIV positive. There are approximately six out of 100 infants that have been born to mothers that are infected with the hepatitis C virus which means the infant is also infected at birth. Fortunately, most infants that are infected with hepatitis C at birth show no signs of the virus nor are there symptoms and do well during childhood. The risk of transmission is greater if the mother is HIV positive, but the chances decrease if the mother has not been diagnosed with HIV and if she has no history of intravenous drug use or blood transfusions. If the mother is HIV positive, there is a seven to eight percent chance the hepatitis C virus will transmit to the offspring. Perinatal transmission is now the leading cause of hepatitis C transmission in developed countries. There is a 25 to 50 percent chance of spontaneous clearance and delayed morbidity results in HCV being overlooked in pregnant women and their infants (“Hepatitis C FAQ”). There is not enough research that can determine the effects of the hepatitis C virus on children that have been affected into adulthood. There are some infants that are born with an antibody which they may lose by the time they are 18 months old, so it is important to test for the hepatitis C virus once the infant reaches 18 months old. Some medical

Hepatitis C (HCV) is a blood borne virus that can lead to chronic liver disease and liver failure. In Canada, nearly 250,000 people have an active Hepatitis C infection (Strike, Leonard, Millson, Anstice, Berkeley, & Medd, 2006). People who inject drugs (PWID) are disproportionately represented in this statistic accounting for over 66% of those infected (Strike et al., 2006). Needle sharing among PWID is oft cited as one of the leading causes of HCV transmission (Strike et al. 2006).

Cedars-Sinai Medical Center (2011) asserts, “Hepatitis C is curable in more than 50 percent of patients.” Management and treatment can include medications, lifestyle changes and possible organ transplant. Pegylated interferon injections weekly and ribavirin daily therapy are the most common medication used in the treatment of HCV. The interferon boosts the immune system to attack liver cells infected with the hepatitis C virus and inhibit the virus’ replication within the cell. The ribavirin is a broad-spectrum of antiviral activity and inhibits replication and infectivity of the virus. Lifestyle changes can include abstaining from the use of alcohol, as it is a proven factor, which can be damaging to the liver. Those that engaging in high-risk behaviors such as needle sharing, unprotected non-monogamous sexual relations and un-sterile environments for tattooing or body piercing, should educate themselves on safer practices. Oregon State Health Department (2011), recommends checking with the treating provider when using over the counter medications and supplements, to ensure that they do not interfere with treatment or liver function and possibly do further damage to the liver.

Studies show that sexual intercourse is a rare way to send Hepatitis C. A person’s risk of getting Hepatitis C increases by having rough sex or multiple sex partners couple with having HIV or (STD).Hepatitis C is spread when the blood of uninfected person comes into contacts with the blood of an infected person.

Hepatitis C is a form of liver inflammation caused by the hepacivirus, a member of the Flaviviridae family.It is a highly infectious blood born disease most commonly transmitted by shared needles among drug users. According to the CDC it affects approximately 3.9 million Americans and unfortunately 2.7 million of those individuals are chronically infected. Because the signs and symptoms may not appear sometimes for up to 20-30 years, many people may die from the chronic illness as the disease has a higher treatment response in the acute stages.

The major risk factors for HAV infections are contaminated food and water, poor hygiene and sanitation, person-to-person contact (house-hold and sexual contact), and travelling to endemic countries. Blood exposure in HAV infections are rare. Persons at increased risk of infection are susceptible peopling living in and travelling to endemic areas, injection drug users, and people with chronic liver disease (Heymann,2015).

The liver is involved in many functions of the body which are important for survival. It is the main filtering organ of the body and is involved in processes such a synthesis of plasma proteins, storage of glycogen for energy use as well as excretion, secretion and detoxification of products such as bilirubin, alcohol, cholesterol and drugs. Since the liver is the only organ to rid hemoglobin from the body, one of the most important functions it carries out is bilirubin metabolism. The heme component of hemoglobin is first converted to bilirubin by set of enzymes. It is then bound to albumin and transported to the liver hepatocytes where the enzyme uridyl diphosphate-glucoronyl transferase converts bilirubin into water soluble conjugated form so it can be excreted into the intestines. If the hepatocytes within the liver are damage due to invasion of HCV, bilirubin will not be able to be excreted thus resulting in the buildup of bile. When bile builds up, the skin turn to a yellowish color called jaundice. This usually happens during the later stages of hepatitis (Sunheimer & Graves, 2011).

If you get infected with HCV you can never get rid of it. HCV is transmitted through blood to blood contact, such as injection drug users, people who received clotting factors before 1987, health care workers, infants born to infected mothers, people who have sex with an infected person or have multiple sex partners, people with HIV infection, prisoners or previously incarcerated persons, people that have used intranasal drugs, tattoos or piercings with needles that were not disinfected properly after the use on another person, received an organ transplant from a donor who had HCV, and people who received a transfusion of blood or blood products before 1992. HCV is not spread through breast milk, water, or food or by contact such as kissing, hugging, sharing food or drinking after a person that is infected HCV. There are two steps that are done to be diagnosed with HCV infection. The first step is screening or the anti-HCV antibodies with a serological test that identifies people who are infected with the virus. The second test is positive results for anti-HCV antibodies, and a nucleic acid test for HCV RNA. About 75% of HCV cases, the treatment is ineffective and has this disease for life. After being diagnosed with chronic HCV infection, you will need to have an assessment done of the liver to determine the amount of damage done to the liver such as fibrosis and cirrhosis. Testing is done by a liver biopsy or through several non-invasive tests. About 20%-30% of the people diagnosed with HCV will develop liver failure and die. More than 10 thousand people die from being infected with HCV per year. It takes approximately 7 weeks for a person to show signs and symptoms of HCV. People who are recently infected with HCV do not have any symptoms. Some of the following symptoms that may occur with HCV include pain in the right upper abdomen, fever, fatigue, dark urine, clay-colored or pale