HEPATITIS C VIRUS

GROUP - IV

ORDER - None assigned

FAMILY - Flaviviridae

GENUS - Hepacivirus

GENOME - Linear,single-component, single stranded RNA of 9,600 nucleotides, encoding ten proteins expressed as a polyprotein

GEOGRAPHY - Worldwide

HOSTS - Humans, but related viruses infect dogs, horses, bats, and rodents

ASSOCIATED DISEASES - Hepatitis; liver cirrhosis; linked to liver cancer

TRANSMISSION - Bodily fluids, especially blood products

VACCINE - Currently none, often responds to antiviral drugs

Source Wikipedia

A major concern before testing was possible Several viruses cause hepatitis, a disease of the liver. The first two characterized viruses were Hepatitis A and Hepatitis B. It was recognized that there was an additional viral agent involved in some types of hepatitis, and this was called non-A, non-B hepatitis, until the discovery of Hepatitis C virus in 1989, which accounted for all cases of non A, non-B hepatitis. Before this discovery blood supplies were only tested for Hepatitis A or B, so transmission of Hepatitis C virus occurred mainly during blood transfusions, or via hypodermic needles shared by drug users. The virus can also be transmitted sexually, and from a mother to child, but this is rare. By 1990 the blood supplies in developed countries were routinely tested, and the rate of Hepatitis C virus infection began to drop dramatically.

In the late 2000s, while rates of new infection kept declining, death rates from Hepatitis C were climbing. One problem with Hepatitis C infections is that there are often no symptoms for many years. If detected, the virus can be treated and eliminated in most cases, but long-term chronic infections lead to serious liver damage and are linked to liver cancer. In 2012 a campaign was launched in the United States to test everyone born between 1945 and 1965, because people in this age group account for about 75 percent of all Hepatitis C infections. The World Health Organization (WHO) recommends testing for all at-risk populations, and this has resulted in declining incidence in most of the developed world.