The 100 billion dollar virus

Abstract

It’s a Tuesday sunny afternoon; Mark is lying out in the back garden on a well-deserved break from work. He could easily stay there all afternoon, chilling out reading his book but he has a doctor’s appointment at three o’clock. “It’s only a check-up, maybe I could give it a miss, I do feel perfectly healthy” he thinks. Mark decided to go to the doctor’s appointment convincing himself it wouldn’t take long and he would feel great about himself afterwards. That evening after the appointment Mark didn’t feel as good as he’d expected. The doctor had taken blood samples which were being sent away for testing with suspicion of a viral infection in his liver. This obviously worried Mark but also confused him as he felt fine. The results of the blood test show Mark is infected with a virus called Hepatitis C (HCV). It is causing damage to his ...