Community Assessment for Treatment and Prevention of Hepatitis C in Adult Population - Term Paper Example

Download file to see previous pages With the increased awareness and advancement in research, involving human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) epidemic, clinical expertise exists for the prevention and management of chronic viral diseases like HCV among injection drug users, since the mode of infection and behavior of vulnerable population for both HIV and HCV contagion are identical. Since the transmission of HCV is similar to HIV and IDU is the primary risk factor for HCV infection, and coinfection of these two blood-borne diseases cause morbidity and mortality, harm reduction approach and the strategies that address the social and economic harms that impact an individual, community, or society are paramount in preventing the epidemic.

Hepatitis C is the major cause of chronic hepatitis, cirrhosis, and liver cancer in the United States and the identification of Hepacivirus of the family Flaviviridae in 1989 led to an explosion of research and development of specific tests for detecting anti-HCV and HCV RNA as well as recognizing it as a common cause of chronic liver disease. (Chapter 5: Viral Hepatitis, p. 61). According to WHO estimates there are “about 180 million people, some 3% of the world’s population, are infected with hepatitis C virus (HCV), 130 million of whom are chronic HCV carriers at risk of developing liver cirrhosis and/or liver cancer” and three to four million persons are newly infected each year, making HCV a “viral time bomb”. It is also estimated that 3.9 million Americans are infected with HCV, with ‘prevalence rates as high as 8-10% in African Americans’. The route of HCV transmission is mainly through injectable drug use that accounts for nearly 90% of a new infection, as well as through blood transfusion and perinatal infection. (WHO2). (Initiative for vaccine Research (IVR). 2008). It is estimated that there are 1–2 million homeless youth in the United States and a national study of homeless youths found that “68% are 15-17 years old; 57% are Caucasians; 17% African American; 15% Hispanic; and 12% from other ethnic origins”. ...Download file to see next pagesRead More