Hepatitis C News

Results of a hospital investigation into a telemetry unit nurse’s reuse of saline flush prefilled syringes indicates that there was one transmission of hepatitis C genotype 4a to a previously uninfected patient, according to a press release from the CDC.

The Japanese Ministry of Health, Labour and Welfare has granted priority review to AbbVie’s direct-acting antiviral glecaprevir/pibrentasvir for the treatment of all major genotypes of chronic hepatitis C, according to a press release.

Advancements in digital technology developing concurrently with the advent of the direct-acting antiviral era has created an optimal set of conditions for telemedicine programs in HCV to flourish. Video communication is becoming more freely available worldwide. Current HCV drugs are relatively easy to use. HCV experts are no longer needed to administer year-long interferon-based regimens or manage adverse events. In all likelihood, an increasing number of patients — mainly those in remote or rural areas, but also, possibly, those closer to major academic centers — will be seen by video conferencing. Whether this will translate to dramatically improved outcomes or significant cost and resource savings, however, remains to be seen.

Recently, the Conference on Retroviruses and Opportunistic Infections, sponsored by the International Antiviral Society-USA, provided researchers with an opportunity to translate their clinical findings into progress against the HIV epidemic, according to the organization. That mission includes treating those patients with coinfection with hepatitis C.

In this issue, HCV Next asks five questions of Ashwani K. Singal, MD, MS, FACG, associate professor in the Division of Gastroenterology and Hepatology of the Department of Medicine at the University of Alabama, Birmingham.

When you look at the consequences of any chronic liver disease such as hepatitis C, three different types of impact emerge.

Recent study data revealed an association between coffee consumption and a reduced risk for developing chronic liver disease, particularly in non-alcoholic fatty liver disease, alcoholic liver disease and chronic hepatitis C.

In veterans with rheumatoid arthritis and hepatitis C who received both biologic and non-biologic disease-modifying antirheumatic drugs, researchers found a low frequency of hepatotoxicity, according to recently published data.

A recent interview with a Gilead Sciences executive pointing fingers for drug costs at pharmacy benefit managers spurred a formal letter from Express Scripts requesting a lower price for the company’s popular hepatitis C medications.

Patients with chronic hepatitis C and a current hepatitis B infection have a potential risk for HBV reactivation during direct-acting antiviral therapy, according to the results of a prospective study.