Hepatitis C Virus
Jake Neumann
Rasmussen College
Hepatitis C Virus
The hepatitis virus is a viral infection that has become a real concern in today’s world. Hepatitis has many variations, for this paper I will be focusing specifically the hepatitis C virus. The hepatitis C virus, also known as HCV, is a viral infection that attacks the liver. Unfortunately, this virus is a formidable opponent and our immune system has a hard time fighting HCV. Typically, people do not notice the virus has infected them until it is too late and becomes a chronic condition.
Hepatitis really means inflammation of the liver. However, the hepatitis C virus differs from other forms of hepatitis such as hepatitis A or Hepatitis B virus. Hepatitis C virus comes in several different types or genotypes of the virus. All of these variations have basically the same structure. This virus belongs to the Hepacivirus genus of the Flaviviridae family (Plauzolles, Lucas, & Gaudieri, 2015).They are made up of an envelope, which contains their genetic material (RNA), proteins and enzymes. These give the virus its objective, which is to invade the hepatocytes and start reproducing (Davis, 2012). The virus actually binds to the T cells and repurposes them to help with the spread, and reproduction of the hepatitis c virus (Kondo, Sung, Machida, Liu, Lai, 2007).
The Hepatitis C virus invades the body by way of blood transmission. It is a known blood borne pathogen. Typically, it is transmitted by the sharing of contaminated needles, however, there are a number of ways it can be transmitted such as sex or mother to child during birth. It should be noted that the virus cannot be transmitted through regular contact with an infected person such as hugging, kissing or sharing food.
When HCV enters the body it circulates in the blood and in the liver. The inflammation of the liver is caused by our body’s immune system trying to fight off the infection. Inflammation of the liver can cause a number of problems, causing the liver to not function properly. Most commonly after a period of years, the liver will begin to develop cirrhosis. Cirrhosis means the liver is severely scarred, this causes the infected individual to lose one or more of the livers functions. This can be a life threateningissue, as the liver is no longer able to filter out toxic substances, and preform, as it should. With cirrhosis there is also an increase in liver cancer (Lee, 2014).
Cirrhosis of the liver is a serious problem and can affect several other parts of the body. Usually HCV only affects the liver. However, there can be indirect interactions with other organs when the liver is not functioning normally.HCV sometimes causes the body to produce antibodies known as cryoglobulins. These cryoglobulins cause the arteries to become inflamed which can cause the kidneys, joints and skin damage (Nettleman, Rajaguru, 2014). There is also an association with Reynaud’s phenomenon, diabetes and B-cell lymphoma.
The liver plays an important part in our body and is responsible for many of the body’s functions. The Hepatitis C virus causes the liver to become swollen and inflamed. This swelling and inflammation causes the liver to not function properly, which directly affects our health. Luckily for us there are preventive measures, treatments and if no other treatment is available there are liver transplants.
References
Plauzolles, A. Lucas, M. Gaudieri, S. (2015, April 7) Influence of host resistance on
Viral adaptation: hepatitis C virus as a case study. Retrieved from
Nettleman, M. D. Rajaguru, S. (2014, February 2) Hepatitis C Infection. Retrieved from
Davis, W. S. University of North Carolina Health Care. (2012, December 18). How hepatitis C virus reprograms human liver cells. Retrieved from
Lee, D. (2014, March 5) Cirrhosis (Liver) Retrieved from
Department of Molecular Microbiology and Immunology, University of SouthernCalifornia Keck School of Medicine. (2007, April 25) Hepatitis C virus infects T cells and affects interferon-gamma signaling in T cell lines. Retrieved from
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