Hepatitis C is an RNA virus belonging to the family Flaviviridae and has tropism for hepatocytes. HCV enters the cell through the low-density lipoprotein and CD81 receptors. When viral RNA invades the host cell, it then serves as messenger RNA and rapidly produces new virions, up to 12 trillion per day. In comparison, HIV produces approximately 10 trillion virions per day. Hence, HCV is more genetically diverse than HIV, which is a major reason for the lack of an effective HCV vaccine.
