hepatitis c

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Recommended: An essay on hepatitis C

Infectious Disease: Hepatitis C
Known as the “silent epidemic,” for many years Hepatitis C has continued to progress without a definite cure. This dangerous disease has taken the lives of many, who at times see no signs or symptoms until serious damage is inflicted on their liver. This paper will discuss different factors that are involved when it comes to Hepatitis’s C such as it’s’: history, chain of infection, treatments, statistics, development and transmission, and future research. The paper will also highlight the various roles nurses have to take on when faced with caring for Hepatitis C patients.
Historical Overview
Hepatitis C is a contagious liver disease that leads to scarring and inflammation of the liver. It results from infection with the Hepatitis C virus (HCV), which is spread primarily through contact with the blood of an infected person (“Hepatitis C FAQs for the Public [CDC],” 2014). After the discovery of hepatitis A in 1973 and hepatitis B in 1963, any cases of acute or chronic hepatitis or cirrhosis with no identifiable causes were positioned into the category of non-A non-B (NANB) hepatitis. In 1987 a group of scientist from the Chiron Biotechnology Company cloned a causative agent of a NANB hepatitis virus. They decided to name it the hepatitis C virus. By sampling frozen blood from patients, what was considered to be an unidentified hepatitis was actually hepatitis C (Moore, 2006).
Natural History of Hepatitis C
The natural history of hepatitis C virus (HCV) infection is somewhat vague, due to conflicting research methods used to determine disease course across studies. In many research studies, there seems to be inconsistency in the natural history between infected groups. For example, the risk of pr...

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...rugs (telaprevir and boceprevir). These new oral antiviral drugs have shown a significant improvement in rates of cure for patients with genotype (strain) 1 infection. Cure rates of around 80% across genotypes 1–3 can now be achieved by some patients. The duration of treatment is typically from 6–12 months, but can last for 12–72 weeks in some cases (Poll, 2012).
Related Research
There are many organizations and support groups that a person with HCV can go to for more information and help. Some are the American Liver Foundation, HEP C Connection, Hepatitis C Awareness Project, Hepatitis C Global Foundation, Hepatitis Foundation International, and the Hepatitis C Support Project. Research has also found that Hepatitis C can induce insulin resistance, which will increase the risk of hepatic fibrosis and type II diabetes. (Everson& Weinberg, 2006).
Impact of disease

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