The Hepatitis C Virus ( Hcv )

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).

Although it is alarming about how expensive these drugs may cost, an inescapable idea that would have passed our brains several times already would be “Why should I care?” and that patients are only willing to pay this price because they need it because they are sick. Even if it may seem that we don’t empathize them, the overall perception is that since we don’t have hepatitis C, we would not have to worry about these price tags because we would never have to pay this fee. Because of this, although we may feel sympathy towards these patients, we are rarely able to perceive their problems at a personal level.

A few years ago, Hepatitis C was a scary term for many of us. But, today the medical problem is curable as there are various and advanced ways available. The improvement in the treatment is especially notable because experts have worked harder to obtain this success. Still, there are some significant changes are left and hopefully they will be completed soon. Presently, the HCV treatments get rid of the virus in merely slightly more than half of all sufferers. The medicines also have unnecessary side effects that make it complicated or not possible for some patients to get them. HCV medication online available, but it is not worthy to take them without the concern of the doctor.

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

About 4.1 million people in Americans have the positive antibody for hepatitis C virus (HCV), and about 75% of them are persistently infected and most of the infections happened d 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 for severe complications in the infected people. Identification, death, and treatment is predicted to affect 35,000 by 2030. The Center for Disease Control (CDC) used antiviral therapy with PEGylated in clinical trials. The CDC recommends a HVC one time test for people born between 1945 and 1965.They observed testing by birth. The objective of this study was to thoroughly evaluate the amount of substance abuser infected with hepatitis C in the United States. Additional to observe the treatment of HVC. 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 classes liver disease stage, HIV, and drug use. Approximately 42 states reimbursed the following criteria up to 74% for the drug sofobuvir. About two thirds of the United States restricted the treatment centered on prescriber type. About 88% included drug abuse in their sofosbuvir admissibility measures. Finally 50% required a dated of abstinence and 64% required drug test. The latest drug to HVC is called Sovaldi and it costs $84,000 for the 12

Hepatitis C is a prevalent health care problem. According to the Centers of Disease Control and Prevention (CDC, 2016), approximately 2.7-3.9 million of the adult population in the United States is infected with hepatitis C virus (HCV). Some groups of people are at risk for Hepatitis C infection, including current injection drug users, people who received the blood transfusion before 1992, organ recipients from a donor who tested positive for hepatitis C virus, hemodialysis patients, and children born to a hepatitis C mother (CDC, 2016). Hepatitis C causes embarrassment and isolation from the society. Self-esteem and understanding of the family, friend and community will motivate the patient to have a good quality life in society. This

According to the CDC, 70%-80% of people with acute Hepatitis C are asymptomatic. The CDC listed that in 2009 an estimated 16,000 people in the United

In general, a patient is infected with only one hepatitis C virus genotype. 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).

These drugs may cure hepatitis C in more than 95 percent of patients. There was a recent study in where 10 patients who had recently received hepatitis-c infected livers and took the new drugs before and after the transplant. After a twelve week period of drug treatment ended the results showed that none of the patients had any signs of a hepatitis-c infection. Even more impressively five of the patients observed bodies had created antibodies to the disease. Which means the drugs may not stopped early infections, but still managed to prevent a chronic infection from occurring. The only drawback for this study may be that since it was a small number of subjects, the data could be skewed and it’s possible on a larger scale the percentage of those who will be cured of the disease may be much lower than the current 100% the results showed.(Durand, March

Markers of HCV infection are found in 80 to 90% of patients with hepatocellular carcinoma in Japan, 44 to 66% in Italy, and 30 to 50% in the United States (El-Serag and Rudolph,2007). It has been projected that cases of HCV-related hepatocellular carcinoma will continue to increase over the next two to three decades (El-Serag

Hepatitis B is the most common liver infection in the world. Worldwide, about 350 million people are chronic carriers of HBV (Hepatitis B Virus), among these carriers, more than 620,000 die from liver-related diseases each year. In the United States, hepatitis B mainly affects adults aged between 20-50 years. About 800,000 to 1.4 million Americans are chronic hepatitis B virus carriers, and the disease causes about 3,000 deaths each year. The good news is that infection with HBV is usually preventable because there is an effective vaccine. Use of the vaccine has resulted in an 82% decrease in the number of new infections reported in the United

Hepatitis is inflammation of the liver. There are currently five known viruses that cause can hepatitis (Microbiology, 10e). The hepatitis C virus (HCV) is transmitted through contact with the blood of an infected person; however, it is now more commonly spread among IV drug users that share needles. Healthcare workers are also at risk for contracting HCV, but with standard precautions, the risk is low. “Prior to 1992, some people acquired the HCV infection from transfusions of blood or blood products. Since 1992, all blood products have been screened for HCV, and cases of HCV due to blood transfusion now are extremely rare. HCV can be passed from mother to unborn child. Approximately 4 out of every 100 infants born to HCV-positive mothers

After 1992 blood banks began screening the blood for the hepatics C virus. According to Dr. Palmer on page 117 she states, that it has been estimated by the Center for Disease Control (CDC) that almost 300,000 Americans have contracted HCV prior to the advent of screening of donated blood and blood product for HIV.

also a critical measure in many HCV high burden countries. Implementation of the WHO injection safety