Communicable disease

Hepatitis c
Name:
Institution
Introduction
Hepatitis C is among the most prevalent diseases in the world. It is an inflammatory disease that affects the liver and primarily caused by a virus hepatitis C virus i.e. HCV. Most of its victims never realize they are infected. However, for chronic cases the results are fatal. It may lead to liver cirrhosis, liver cancer and the effects are irreversible because even if a patient undergoes a liver transplant, the disease usually persists. The diseases infect approximately more than 140 million people in the world and the case studies get worse for the rate of infection in the developing world such as Egypt that has an annual infection rate of 20% (McCaughan et al, 2012). In the Unites States alone, it causes more deaths than HIV. Hence, this essay shall look at the chain of infection of hepatitis c, the treatment options available, and how medical personnel can assist patients in adhering to the said treatment.
Epidemiologic Statistics and Pertinent Laboratory Data
The statistics and laboratory data that exist for Hepatitis c are alarming and the exact figures need to be understood for effective measures against the chain of infection to be established. Currently more that 2.5 million cases of HCV infections are reported annually with those already infected as of 2010 being close to 190 million people. The number of reported deaths because of the infection of HCV is close to 400,000 victims annually from acute HCV cases while chronic HCV accounts for less than 20,000 in the same period (Tan & He, 2011). In secondary HCV related cases, close to 200,000 persons die annually from liver failure that can be either liver cirrhosis or liver cancer.
Laboratory data have shown that now more than ever, primarily irresponsible intravenous drug abuse and medical instruments that are not well sterilized cause new infection of HCV. Among the regions that record high numbers in terms of new infection, rates include the northern part of Africa and mostly East and central Asia, and Middle East while infection rates are minimal in developed countries in Europe and America. The rest of the countries and regions fall in between with a relative stagnantly average infection rate conducted (Delirious, 2009).
Studies also show that the risk of contracting liver cirrhosis among men after two decades is more than that for women. I.e. men are 3- 10 times more likely to contact liver cirrhosis than women are. The reason has been given as the fact that men tend to indulge in alcoholism more than women that aggravate the damage. While less than 5% percent of USA residents are affected by HCV, the percentage is higher among developing nations like Egypt which has an infection rate of more than 20% (McCaughan et al, 2012). This has basically been established to be as a result of poor sterilizing of medical instruments.
Chain of Infection
It is worth understanding the infection process to figure out the best methods to stop the rate of infection. By understanding the underlying factors of its cycle, can individually start practicing cautionary measures.


Figure 1: chain of infection of hepatitis c
Infectious agent
The pathogen that is responsible with the spreading of hepatitis C is hepatitis-C-virus (HCV). It entails a single stranded, enveloped, and positively sensed RNA virus that is a member of the Hepacivirus gene and in the Flaviviridae family. The hepatitis C virus exists in seven different types of genotypes (McCaughan et al, 2012). Most of the cases reported i.e. 68% of new Hepatitis c contagions are instigated by genotype 1, 20% are caused by genotype 2 while the remaining 1% of each new infection are caused by the remaining five genotypes. The virus has a relatively short half-life of between 45 minutes to 3 hours where there is reproduction of around ten power 12 reproduction of the same each day.
When it comes to the virulence of the reported cases, it can be either acute infection or chronic infection. Approximately 15% of every new infection is categorized as acute and its symptoms vary from average to slightly serious cases conducted (Delirious, 2009). Infected patients show characteristics of a loss of appetite resulting in weight loss, being fatigued, pains in both the muscles and joints and at times nausea. However, acute infection cases resolve themselves naturally without medical intervention that accounts for about half of all acute infections.
In a more pronounced effect, close to 75% of new infection of hepatitis C is chronic. This means that the virus is hosted into an individual’s body for more than half a year whose symptoms may not be pronounced for the first six months and only show when it is relatively in its advanced stages. In some cases, its presence cannot be evident until after many decades have passed since the time of infection. Then, it is characterized by fatal outcomes like liver failure due to liver cirrhosis and subsequently liver cancer (Tan & He, 2011). The chances of developing a chronic infection among the reported cases is found to increase for individuals who are alcoholics and those with a past from infection of other related diseases such as HIV, hepatitis c and this demography mostly entails young male whose risks are more than for those reported in women.
Reservoir
This usually entails the areas where the hepatitis C virus can survive before being introduced into the susceptible host. Most of the well suitable places the virus seems to cling to include poorly sterilized surgical tools in the medical sector such as in the Egyptian country where such tools accounts for more infection that any other cause. In more developed countries with no such cases, the main reservoirs for this virus are hemodialysis machines (McCaughan et al, 2012). Because such machines are expensive, it means that they have to be shared among patients undergoing dialysis. As they involve purifying the blood of urine waste, when not properly sterilized, traces of the blood remain in such machines that make ideal environment as hepatitis C reservoirs.
In secondary based infection i.e. when the infection is from one infected person to another, the reservoir here is the primary host. It can be a person who is infected but remains and looks uninfected. Such persons usually have immune systems that suppress the disease but not get rid of them conducted (Delirious, 2009). Hence, such virus waits for the opportune time to be introduced to a more vulnerable person whose immune system may not be that strong. Thus in such cases, the primary host becomes the reservoir for the HCV.
Portal of exit
The portal of exit for the virus means the path via which the infectious agent leaves the reservoir. In the case where the reservoir is poorly sterilized surgical tools, the portal of exit is the cutting or pricking by the tool on susceptible host. Through the cut, the virus is moved from the equipment to the host (Tan & He, 2011). The other more practical and highly likely way is through body fluids. When one person is the reservoir, body fluids exchange with a healthy person leads to HCV transmission. This can be via mouth fluids while kissing when the two ha...