Infection News

Patients undergoing direct-acting antiviral therapy for hepatitis C who had non-characterized liver nodules had a higher risk for hepatocellular carcinoma within a short follow-up time than other patients, according to a recently published study.

The American Gastroenterological Association has named the 2019 winners of its annual Recognition Awards, bestowed on leaders in gastroenterology to honor their contribution and achievements in the specialty.

Dicerna Pharmaceuticals announced the dosing of the first volunteer in a phase 2 clinical trial of DCR-HBVS, the company’s investigational GalXCTM-based therapy for the treatment of chronic hepatitis B, according to a press release.

Lincoln Financial Group and the American Liver Foundation have joined together to raise awareness of hepatitis C in the U.S. and improve educational resources, according to a press release.

Between 2010 and 2017, the number and percentage of deceased donor organs with a transmissible infectious disease — such as hepatitis C, hepatitis B or HIV — increased in the U.S., which may likely be tied to the ongoing opioid epidemic, according to a recent report from the CDC.

Fecal microbiota transplantation donors who can successfully transfer important bacteria to recipients could be the future of treating diseases like inflammatory bowel disease and irritable bowel syndrome, according to research published in Frontiers in Cellular and Infection Microbiology.

Researchers discovered a wide prevalence of strongyloidiasis — a chronic intestinal infection caused by a soil-transmitted intestinal nematode — among immunocompromised patients in Bolivia.

Fecal microbiota transplantation may be a viable treatment option for patients with cancer who have developed immunotherapy-induced colitis, according to results of a case series published in Nature Medicine.

Patients with complete response to hepatocellular carcinoma and underwent direct-acting antiviral therapy for hepatitis C had similar rates of cancer recurrence compared with patients who did not receive DAA therapy, according to a study published in Gastroenterology.

Toxin-positive Clostridioides difficile infection, or CDI, tended to be more severe than CDI that was detected through nucleic acid amplification tests, but researchers found no differences in CDI-related complications or mortality rates between cases that were detected using either approach, according to a recent study.