Hepatits CHepatitis C 1. Causative Agent: a. What is the causative agent of the disease? Is it a...

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Hepatits CHepatitis C 1. Causative Agent:   a. What is the causative agent of the disease?  Is it a bacterium, a virus, a prion, or a eukaryote?   b. If it is a bacterium, what are the characteristics of the cell?  (Gram-reaction, cell shape and arrangement, metabolic capabilities, etc.).   c. If it is a virus, what are its characteristics?  (DNA virus, positive-strand RNA virus, negative-strand RNA virus, or retrovirus?  Enveloped or naked?  How large is it?  Provirus formation?  Are there any unique characteristics of its multiplication cycle?). d. If it is a prion, what is a prion?  Where in the body does it occur?  What is the function of the normal-type protein?   e. If it is a eukaryote, is it a fungus, an alga, a protozoan, a platyhelminth, or a nematode?  Is it multicellular or unicellular?  What is its life cycle?   2. History:   a. How long have we known about this disease?  Historically, how was this disease treated?  What is the history of vaccine development? b. Describe the changes in our knowledge and attitudes toward this disease throughout history.   3. Epidemiology:   a. Describe the prevalence and transmission of this disease.   b. Where (in the world) is the disease prevalent?  How many people are currently infected?  What is the rate of new infections?  What are the rates of morbidity and mortality?   c. What is (are) the reservoir(s) of the pathogen?  What is (are) the mode(s) of transmission?   4. Pathology:   a. Describe the pathogenic effects on cells, tissues, and organ systems.   b. What tissues/organs/cells does the pathogen affect?   c. What damage does the pathogen inflict?  How is this damage inflicted?  (Is there direct mechanical damage?  Is a toxin produced?  Does the immune response cause damage?).   d. What is the time sequence of the disease (length of incubation, prodrome, illness, decline, and convalescence)?   e. What are the major signs and symptoms?   5. Response and Treatment.   a. Describe the activity of our immune system against the pathogen.   b. Cell mediated immunity?  Humoral mediated immunity?  Innate Immunity?  Acquired immunity?   c. How is the disease diagnosed?  What types of medical treatments exist?  Describe how these treatments affect the progression of the disease.  Antibiotic resistant strains?   d. Describe prophylactic measures that can be taken to limit the risk of infection.   6. Socio-politico-economic Considerations.   a. Describe any historic or present-day social, economic, or political issues that either help or hinder us in limiting the spread of the disease.  What is the cost of treatment?   b. Suggest policies and practices that can be employed to help with limiting the spread of the disease.  For each policy and practice, describe what will be needed (what we have to sacrifice) in order to properly implement the proposal.

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Hepatitis C											1
Hepatitis C
Table of contents
Causative agent	3
History	3
Epidemiology	4
Pathology	5
Response and Treatment	6
Socio-political-economic consideration	7
References	7
1. Causative agent
The causative agent of the disease is hepatitis C virus (HCV). Hepatitis c virus is a flavivirus and it has also been found that it is a single positive-strand RNA virus. It generally causes non-A, non-B hepatitis. Research describes that the viral RNA neither has a 5' cap nor a 3'polyA tract (Miras, Miller, Truniger, & Aranda, 2017). The virus gains the envelope from its host cells. It is normally 30to 60 nm in size. 
2. History
Hepatitis C virus belongs to the flavivirus family and it is a hepatotropic RNA virus. This hepatitis c virus was first identified in 1989 (Kao, 2016). The history of the development of the virus was one of the fascinating scientific adventures. Based on the process of isolation, cultivation and other ways of studying modern virologists are trying to characterize and monitor the virus more effectively.  It can cause acute as well as chronic hepatitis in the human body. If it is not being treated properly, this chronic hepatitis C can cause hepatocellular carcinoma and it also sometimes leads to liver cirrhosis (Schietroma, et al., 2018). The process of encapsulation of this virus is still not clearly being understood. Researchers have edified that the virus may gain the envelope from the host cell. Proper treatment for the disease has not been found yet. Recent research has developed direct-acting antivirals. This antiviral specifically targets the non-structural protein of the hepatitis C virus. Recently demonstrated studies revealed much information about the viral genome and identified that the 3' end of the viral RNA incorporates into virus particle and acts as a cis-acting element during RNA packaging. This HCV RNA consists of a compact structure. The viral genome is about 9.6 kb in length and contains a single open reading frame (ORF) (Cesarec, 2017). The vaccine for hepatitis c has not been discovered yet but it can expect that within this decade the vaccine will be available. The successful development of the nucleoside analog has made a great contribution to the control of the progression of the disease. In this modern era from 1989 to 2013, the progression of the disease control rate has jumped rapidly. The estimated rate of the successful treatment of HCV has been uplifted from 6% to near 80% in this interval. It is now undoubtedly expected that the world will witness the phenomenon of full control over chronic and acute hepatitis.
3. Epidemiology
It has been reported that the estimated number of globally chronic infected population by hepatitis c is around 130 million. In the severe case of transmission of this disease, many cases developed various chronic liver diseases, cirrhosis, and hepatocellular carcinoma (Yang, et al., 2019). It has also been estimated that among total infected populations 27% have resulted in cirrhosis and around 25% lead to hepatocellular carcinoma. Different patterns can be seen in the infection range of HCV in the geographical and temporal regional variation.

Hepatitis C 1. Causative Agent: a. What is the causative agent of the disease? Is it a bacterium, a virus, a prion, or a eukaryote? b. If it is a bacterium, what are the characteristics of the cell?...

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