World Hepatitis Day 2022: ‘I can’t wait’ theme stresses importance of testing, treatment
Click Here to Manage Email Alerts
July 28 is World Hepatitis Day, and this year’s theme, “I can’t wait,” emphasizes the importance of testing and treatment and the need for greater global response to viral hepatitis elimination efforts.
World Hepatitis Day honors the birthday of Nobel-prize winning scientist and physician Baruch Blumberg, who discovered hepatitis B and developed a diagnostic test and vaccine for the virus. Today, viral hepatitis affects more than 354 million people worldwide and causes more than one million deaths each year.
In recognition of World Hepatitis Day, Healio presents the following updates.
No difference in HCC risk between tenofovir, entecavir for chronic HBV infection
There was no clinically meaningful difference in the risk for hepatocellular carcinoma between patients taking tenofovir vs. entecavir to treat chronic hepatitis B virus infection, according to study results published in JAMA Network Open.
“The comparative risk of hepatocellular carcinoma between tenofovir and entecavir is a matter of ongoing controversy. Multiple meta-analyses on this topic yielded conflicting results, with some favoring tenofovir and others finding no significant difference between the two agents,” Daniel Q. Huang, MBBS, MCI, MMED, of the NAFLD Research Center at the University of California, San Diego, told Healio. Read more.
Bulevirtide monotherapy safe, well-tolerated in chronic hepatitis D patients
Bulevirtide induced a greater combined virologic and biochemical response compared with control at 48 weeks in patients with chronic hepatitis D infection, according to research.
“HDV causes the most severe form of chronic viral hepatitis with two-to-three-fold increased risk for mortality compared with HBV mono-infection,” Heiner Wedemeyer, PhD, professor and clinical director of gastroenterology, hepatology and endocrinology at Hannover Medical School in Germany, said at the International Liver Congress. “Achieving HDV viral control or cure of chronic HDV is an unmet medical need.” Read more.
HBV-listed death rates surpass national average in coastal, Appalachian states
Individuals born in the United States made up nearly two-thirds of all hepatitis B-listed deaths, with death rates exceeding the national average in 13 states, according to research published in JAMA Network Open.
“Annual national viral hepatitis surveillance reports have included hepatitis B mortality estimates since 2004, displaying state-level data since 2015. However, these reports lacked information on decedent place of birth, comorbidities and underlying vs. contributing causes of death,” Kathleen N. Ly, MPH, of the division of viral hepatitis at the CDC National Center for HIV, Viral Hepatitis, STD and TB Prevention, and colleagues wrote. “To further explore differences between U.S.- and non-U.S.-born decedents with hepatitis B-listed deaths, we examined the distribution of these deaths by sociodemographic characteristics, median age at death and [underlying cause of death].” Read more.
‘Strong support, political will’ needed to achieve global HBV, HCV elimination goals
Although progress has been made, nearly 12 million individuals will die early from preventable hepatitis B and hepatitis C deaths without additional interventions, according to research presented at the International Liver Congress.
“The Polaris Observatory maintains and updates about 166 models for hepatitis B and over 100 models for hepatitis C every year,” Sarah Blach, HCV group leader at the Center for Disease Analysis Foundation in Colorado, told attendees. “The models are used to estimate the future disease burden for hepatitis B and hepatitis C, assuming that current trends, diagnoses and treatments, as well as harm-reduction programs, continue into the future.” Read more.
Noninvasive testing may predict portal hypertension, clinical outcomes in cured HCV
Noninvasive testing may predict clinically significant portal hypertension and other outcomes in patients after hepatitis C virus cure, according to research presented at the International Liver Congress.
“The presence of clinically significant portal hypertension determines decision treatment with nonselective beta-blockers in compensated, advanced chronic liver disease,” Georg Semmler, MD, PhD, of the Medical University of Vienna, said. “It's important to know whether the patient has clinically significant portal hypertension or not. However, hepatic venous pressure gradient is not broadly available in a larger population. Therefore, we need noninvasive tests to diagnose potential.” Read more.
Female prisons ‘main reservoir’ for hepatitis C, key target for elimination initiatives
A high intensity test and treat initiative for hepatitis C elimination in England proved to be beneficial for testing and treating incarcerated individuals, according to results at the International Liver Congress.
“The [National Health Service] hepatitis C elimination program is working toward a shared goal of eliminating hepatitis C as a public health issue, in line with the proposed WHO goal, by 2030,” Beatrice Emmanouil, PhD, from NHS England, told attendees. “Prison populations are known to have a higher rate of people living with a hepatitis C infection compared to the general public and are believed to be the main reservoir of infection.” Read more.
WHO: HCV elimination by 2030 demands ‘scale-up, simplification’ of care pathways
WHO presented updated guidance on hepatitis C, calling for drastic simplification of care pathways to alleviate access gaps in HCV testing and treatment, during a joint WHO-EASL-CDC symposium at the International Liver Congress.
“In 2016, when WHO launched its global strategy, there were ambitious plans for elimination, defined as a 90% reduction in incidence and a 65% reduction in mortality,” Philippa Easterbrook, MD, senior scientist at the Global HIV, Hepatitis and STI Programs at WHO headquarters in Geneva, told attendees. “These could be delivered through the scale-up of six synergistic interventions, including testing and treatment, to achieve by 2030 towards elimination: 90% of those infected diagnosed, and 80% of those diagnosed treated.” Read more.
HCV reinfection prevalence rises among MSM as acute cases decline
Although the annual incidence of acute hepatitis C virus has decreased over the past 10 years in Frankfurt, Germany, the prevalence of HCV genotype 4 increased in men who have sex with men, according to research.
“Despite the broad availability of direct acting antivirals, ongoing transmission of HCV, as well as a persistent epidemic of HCV infections, has been especially observed in high interest groups such as HIV-positive men who have sex with men,” Christiana Graf, of the University Hospital Frankfurt department of internal medicine, said at the International Liver Congress. “While the incidence of acute hepatitis C has been observed to increase in the United States over the past decade, it seemed to decline in the European countries and is still largely unknown in many other parts of the world.” Read more.
References:
- CDC. World Hepatitis Day — July 28th. https://www.cdc.gov/hepatitis/awareness/worldhepday.htm. Accessed July 27, 2022.
- Hepatitis NSW. 10 Facts about viral hepatitis for World Hepatitis Day. https://www.hep.org.au/blog/10-facts-about-viral-hepatitis-for-world-hepatitis-day/. Accessed July 27, 2022.
- World Health Organization. 28 July is World Hepatitis Day. https://www.who.int/campaigns/world-hepatitis-day. Accessed July 27, 2022.
- World Hepatitis Day. https://www.worldhepatitisday.org/. Accessed July 27, 2022.