Hepatitis C News

Screening people who inject drugs for hepatitis C virus may be a cost-effective way to combat HCV infection and could be preferable to universal testing when resources are limited, according to an analysis published in JAMA Network Open.

At the virtual Innovations in Dialysis: Expediting Advances Symposium, the chair of the Nephrologists Transforming Dialysis Safety program discussed measures the group has taken to reduce infections for patients on dialysis.

In this exclusive video, Joss O’Loan, MBBS, from the Hepatitis C Kombi Clinic in Brisbane, Australia, discusses two studies presented at The Digital International Liver Congress on HCV elimination programs using Epclusa.

By 2040, researchers predict 75% of cirrhosis cases in North America will be due to nonalcoholic fatty liver disease with a nearly 350% increase in women born after 1980, according to a presenter at the Digital International Liver Conference.

Direct-acting antivirals first received approval for use in adults with hepatitis C in 2013. They were approved for use in children several years later, in 2017.

The COVID-19 pandemic has had “a tremendously negative impact” on efforts to eliminate hepatitis C, according to Ricardo Franco, MD.

Direct-acting antivirals for hepatitis C have not only led to a cure for the virus — they’ve also changed the paradigm in liver transplantation. This includes the transplantation of HCV-positive organs into HCV-negative recipients.

“Hepatitis-free future.” is this year’s World Hepatitis Day theme. The focus is the prevention of hepatitis B transmission between mothers and newborns.

The CDC developed new recommendations for testing algorithms and clinical management of health care personnel with the possibility of occupational exposure to hepatitis C, according guidance from Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report.

Treatment with direct-acting antivirals was associated with decreased mortality among a sample of more than 50,000 Medicare beneficiaries with hepatitis C virus, regardless of the presence of cirrhosis, according to data published in JAMA Network Open.