Breaking the Chain Hepatitis C

Hepatitis C
Student:
Professor:
Course title:
Date:
Introduction
Hepatitis C has become increasingly common infection. It is a viral infectious diseases caused by the Hepatitis C virus (HCV) in the initial stages, it is usually asymptomatic such that the patient will not show any symptoms for the infection. But with time, there is development of symptoms which may include; fatigue and muscle aches. This paper analyses the elements in the chain of infection as far as the disease is concerned. There is also a review of the treatment options utilized to break the chain of infection and to prevent contagion of the disease. In doing this, there has been review of articles and journals.
The chain of infection
In the chain of infection for the hepatitis C, there are the various elements. These denote the different factors surrounding the disease and by which understanding them leads to better management of the disease. According to Rosenthal & Cacoub (2015) the infectious agent denotes the pathogen that carries the disease and which infects organisms with the disease. Hepatitis c disease is spread by a virus known as Hepatitis C virus (HCV). This virus is transmitted through blood. The HCV has become a major public health concern because; there is indication that 2-3 % of the human population is infected with the virus. Once it enters the body of organism, the HCV causes acute and chronic liver disease. This is manifested mainly through inflammation. The virus has become a major threat especially in the consideration that there is no vaccine for the disease. Once a person has been infected, it is a major indication for the need of transplantation of the liver.
Reservoir on the other hand denotes the organism which habor the virus that causes the disease. The hepatitis C reservoir is mainly oriented to human beings. The persons that have the HCV are the reservoirs of the hepatitis c disease. The virus is contained in the blood of the infected persons. Although there have been suggestions that chimpanzees are also reservoirs of the Hepatitis C virus, there have not been much confirmation of this. The infected human beings therefore, remain the main reservoirs of the virus. The virus is much associated with people who inject drugs or those who have injected drugs in the past. Such people are at higher risk of carrying the virus. The existence of the virus in the infected persons is very tricky because, there is little detection of the virus in the initial stages. The following image is of the pertinent laboratory data in Massachusets for a number of years concerning hepatitis C:
Portal of entry and exit in hepatitis c can take different dimensions. This mainly depends with the transmission which could be horizontal or vertical. In the horizontal transmission, the disease is transmitted in different organisms. Rosenthal & Cacoub (2015) clarify that; the portals of entry and exit in this form of transmission include all the body surfaces, the blood stream as well as arthropod bites. The virus utilizes the entry and exit portals because; it needs to enter into an organization to multiply. The vertical transmission denotes transmission of the virus from mother to the offspring. In this mode of transmission, the p...