Hepatitis C is a blood-borne virus
transmitted
primarily via contaminated blood,
even a single drop of which could be sufficient to transmit the virus. The hepatitis C virus is known
to have survived in dry blood for longer periods than many other viruses possibly for as long as three months. The hepatitis C virus is very small and often resides in blood
cells, hence it can survive for as long as infected blood cells remain intact. The virus exists primarily
in the liver and in various components of blood, but not in most
other parts of the body.
The body
responds to infectious agents such as viruses with inflammation. In this process the cells and fluid
that form the body’s defence mechanism come to the site of infection in an attempt to repair any damage
and remove the causative agent. The body responds to hepatitis C virus infection of the hepatocytes
with inflammation of the liver, or acute hepatitis.
