Hepatitis C Is Not A Public Health Crisis

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.

HCV is known as the "silent killer" due it's long duration on the liver for 20-30 years (Hirsch, 2000).

Do you recall hearing about a single medication pill that costs about $1000 each pill? Well, it exists. Sovaldi was a newly approved drug in 2015 designed to treat hepatitis C with an estimated cost of $84,000 for a standard 12-week treatment course. In addition to Sovaldi, the list price of Harvoni, another hepatitis C medication, is estimated to be $95,000 for the 12-week treatment course.

About 4.1 million people in Americans have the positive antibody to hepatitis C virus (HCV), and about 75 percent have permeant infection. Additionally, most of the infections happened 20 to 40 years ago, before the finding of HCV. Hepatitis C increased from 7,000 to 13,000 deaths in 2005. Furthermore, HCV develops slowly which increases the risk of severe complications in the infected people. Identification, death, and treatment are predicted to affect 35,000 by 2030. The Center for Disease Control (CDC) used antiviral therapy with PEGylated in clinical trials (Kalichman, Washington, Kegler, Grebler, Kalichman, Cherry, & Eaton, 2015). The CDC recommends a HCV one time test for people born between 1945 and 1965. The objective of this study was to thoroughly evaluate the amount of substance abusers infected with hepatitis C in the United States. Additionally, to observe the treatment of HCV. Currently Medicaid and Medicare repayment standards for sofosbuvir were calculated in all states, including the District of Columbia. Medicaid and Medicare covered the drug based on the following conditions; liver disease stage, HIV, and drug use. Approximately 42 states reimbursed the following criteria up to 74 percent for the drug sofobuvir. About two-thirds of the United States restricted the treatment centered on prescriber type. About 88 percent included drug abuse in their sofosbuvir admissibility measures. Finally, 50 percent required a date of abstinence and 64 percent required

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

Could treating prisoners for Hepatitis C (HCV) reduce the spread of this disease? The growing number of citizens that are testing positive for HCV 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 three inmates has Hepatitis C (CDC 2013). Among that ratio 50%-90% are injection drug users (CDC 2015). Hepatitis C (HCV) is a blood disease that is caused by a virus that affects the liver. Unfortunately there is no vaccine to prevent this disease. HCV causes chronic liver disease more rapidly than HIV (CDC 2015). HCV just like HIV, is a blood disease that is spread through contact with an infected person’s blood, and there are many ways to contract this disease. Injection drug users, physical altercations, sexual contact, tattooing, sharing razors or toothbrushes and mother to infant infection are just some of the ways this disease can be spread. Individuals who are incarcerated are more likely to take part in these high-risk behaviors (Wegner et al, 2014). Part of the problem is that prison officials have not been educated enough about the seriousness of this disease; therefore they don’t feel the same way. To reduce the spread of this disease testing inmates is very important. Since prison is where HCV is spread most frequently, we need to enforce proven strategies while inmates are contained in one place in order to reduce the spread of this

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.

Hepatitis C has been referred to as a "Silent Epidemic," since it usually progresses slowly over many years. Most people who are infected with hepatitis C are not aware of any noticeable symptoms for as long as one to two decades after they are infected. In fact, by the time symptoms appear, the virus has probably already begun to damage the liver. If the liver is injured and stops functioning, death will always be the outcome (Lieber). Liver failure from chronic hepatitis C is one of the most common causes of liver transplants in the United States.

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).

There are a number of individuals who may be suffering from an illness and not even be aware they have an illness. One example of such illness is Hepatitis C (HCV). Hepatitis C is a severe disease of the liver. It is caused by the Hepatitis C virus (Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), 2015). As a result, Hepatitis C has been termed a silent epidemic (CDC, 2015). This is because a lot of individuals have Hepatitis C and don’t even realize they have the infection (CDC, 2015). As the infection begins to progress over time, it could cause acute issues to the liver (CDC, 2015). Those issues could be things like damage to the liver, the liver could fail to function, cirrhosis, or even cancer of the liver (CDC, 2015). However, screening for Hepatitis C will allow an individual to benefit from treatments that are available, hence eliminating the disease from the body and preventing the liver from undergoing any further damage (CDC, 2015).

Hepatitis C is a blood transmitted virus that has been know for substandard therapies/ drug treatments. When Mr. Parish commented that currently, there is no absolute cure to HCV, my mind immediately shifted to “cancer”. People often think of cancer as the most severe illness someone can get, because there is no cure. However, we forget that in actuality, there are numerous

Hepatitis C virus (HCV) infection causes chronic liver. Over time, infections can lead to liver damage, liver cancer, and even liver failure.

Purpose: The purpose of the article was to address one of the interventions in Hepatitis C treatment and the temporal aspect of it in particular. The authors use a question to begin the article which makes it easy for the reader to find the purpose of the article and later the issue which would be preceding it. Within the purpose, the authors also identify their audience being the patients living with Hepatitis C virus, the insurance companies, and the health departments. Identifying the stakeholders is effective in targeting the message to the appropriate population and further adds clarity to the issue since it would be relatable to the authors of the article as well as their audience.

Medicaid officials across the country are pushing for the access to the new hepatitis C drugs to be widened by state Medicaid programs because the guidelines are unreasonably strict and these medications can cost up to $1,000 per pill. The Food and Drug Administration approved the new hepatitis C drugs, Sovaldi and Harvoni, on July 24 of this year. These expenses can cost up to $84,000 for the recommended treatment period of 12 weeks. The hepatitis C drugs can help cure thousands of people with hepatitis C, which is why Federal and State officials are pushing for access to these drugs to be widened.

Hepatitis C has been referred to as a "Silent Epidemic," since it usually progresses slowly over many years. Most people who are infected with hepatitis C are not aware of any noticeable symptoms for as long as one to two decades after they are infected. In fact, by the time symptoms appear, the virus has probably already begun to damage the liver. If the liver is injured and stops functioning, death will always be the outcome (Lieber). Liver failure from chronic hepatitis C is one of the most common causes of liver transplants in the United States.