• Question: How easy is it for the liver/brain to get infected by Hepatitis C?

    Asked by u11allanl to Debbie, Glyn, Jon, Kat, Nicola on 11 Mar 2013.
    • Photo: Nicola Fletcher

      Nicola Fletcher answered on 11 Mar 2013:

      Well that is one of the big questions that people in my lab ask all the time. There is loads and loads of virus in the blood but the cells in the blood don’t get infected. We think that lots of blood gets into the liver and that means it gets infected quite easily. But I think the brain is harder to infect, partly because not much blood goes into the brain compared to the liver, and also because there are more cells in the liver that can become infected than in the brain. Hope this answers your question ok!

    • Photo: Jonathan Stone

      Jonathan Stone answered on 11 Mar 2013:

      Thanks @nicola – I am learning things from your answers!

    • Photo: Glyn Barrett

      Glyn Barrett answered on 11 Mar 2013:

      Sorry for treading on Nicola’s toes here..
      I’m not sure if its easy but I know its possible.
      There is a lot of work in labs around the world trying to find out about this.

      There in a really thin layer of cells with really really small holes which covers your brain and protects it. It is called the blood brain barrier (or BBB for short). Now your blood cells can pass through these holes from your veins into your brain and bringing oxygen. Just imagine really small people holding even smaller bags fulls of oxygen climbing through these holes.

      Viruses such as Hepatitis C may also pass through these holes or stick to the blood cells and enter like ninjas slipping through during the night.

    • Photo: Kathryn McMahon

      Kathryn McMahon answered on 12 Mar 2013:

      I’d imagine its a lot harder for the brain, but Nicola’s the person to ask here!

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