Hepatitis C (HCV), a single-stranded RNA virus of the Flaviviridae family, is now responsible for more illness and death than the human immunodeficiency virus HIV/AIDS. Approximately 3 million people in the United States are currently suffering from this once unknown and incurable virus. Non-A and non-B hepatitis are two forms of the virus that were prevalent in the 1970s. It was commonly acquired through blood transfusion as well as hemodialysis methods in patients with renal failure (Klevens et al., 2012). Today, the most common means of transmission are intravenous drug use, needlestick injuries in a health care setting, and transmission from mother to fetus during childbirth (Center for Disease Control and Prevention [CDC], 2013a). Humans are the only natural host of hepatitis C (Pawlotsky, 2004). Hepatitis C invasion at the cellular level is not fully understood, but it is known that virion infection is a multiphasic process that includes virus entry, transcription of genomic RNA, translation of polyportein synthesis of negative-strand RNA, followed by the production of progeny. genomic RNA and finally the assembly and secretion of virons. When the virus invades the body, it targets the largest internal organ of the human body; the liver (Chang et al., 2012). The liver is a functionally complex but simple structure located on the right side of the body where it is attached to the diaphragm. It has two lobes with two blood supplies: the hepatic artery which absorbs oxygen-rich blood from the heart and the portal vein which supplies the liver with nutrient-rich blood from the digestive tract. These blood reserves merge into the sinusoids and then into the hepatocytes and Kupper cells...... middle of paper ......004). Pathophysiology of hepatitis C virus infection and associated liver diseases. Trends in microbiology. Flight. 12, No. 2. doi:10.1016/j.tim.2003.12.005Sunheimer, R. and Graves, L., (2011). Clinical laboratory chemistry. Pearson Education Inc. pp.414-416The Hepatitis C Trust. (2013a). The chronic phase. Retrieved from: http://www.hepctrust.org.uk/Hepatitis_C_Info/Stages+of+Hepatitis+C/The+chronic+phaseThe Hepatitis C Trust. (2013b). Treatment. Retrieved from: http://www.hepctrust.org.uk/Treatment/Considering+Treatment/Considering+treatmentU.S. Department of Veterans Affairs. (2013). Liver enzymes. Retrieved from: http://www.hepatitis.va.gov/patient/basics/liver-enzymes.aspWard, J., Valdiserri, R. and Koh, H., (2013) Hepatitis Prevention, Care and Treatment C: from policy to practice. Clinical infectious diseases. Flight. 55(S1), S58-63. doi: 10.1093/cid/cis392