Chronic Hepatitis News

Using data from more than 840,000 health care encounters, researchers estimated that around 90% of people who inject drugs missed opportunities for HIV or hepatitis C virus testing during a recent 8-year period — especially rural males seeking care for skin infections or endocarditis.

Investigation into the epidemiology of hepatitis D in Cameroon revealed intrahousehold infection and large differences in prevalence between regions, with cases concentrated in forested areas close to the equator, which has been seen in other tropical areas.

The PAGE-B score and a modified PAGE-B score identified which patients on antiviral therapy for chronic hepatitis B had a low risk for hepatocellular carcinoma development, according to published data.

Implementation of a multifaceted hepatitis C care pathway improved screening and linkage to care rates, especially among baby boomers, or those born between 1945 and 1965.

The “direct-acting antiviral era” for hepatitis C has been a novel step forward in medicine with several regimens providing cure rates of 95% or higher and many available as secondary treatments for patients whose initial treatment failed. With this highly curative option, researchers have focused on evaluating opportunities to use hepatitis-C infected organs to increase the transplant donor pool.

Researchers found high rates of sexually transmitted hepatitis C among HIV-negative men who have sex with men who used pre-exposure prophylaxis, especially among drug users, according to data published in Journal of Hepatology.

Hepatitis delta virus has a higher association with health care and cost burden on patients than hepatitis B virus, according to a study by the Rutgers Robert Wood Johnson School of Medicine.

Results from the REP 301 and REP 401 studies showed combination therapy with REP2139 and pegylated interferon led to high rates of hepatitis B seroconversion in patients coinfected with hepatitis B and hepatitis D with more than half of treated patients also achieving functional cure of hepatitis D, according to data presented at HEP DART 2019.

Georgia’s hepatitis C virus elimination program made significant progress in helping diagnose patients and begin treatment, according to a study published in the Journal of Hepatology.

The NIH announced a plan to “intensify” ongoing hepatitis B virus research that is focused on finding a cure and improving screening and treatment for the infection.