Hepatitis C News

Some decisions in life are quite difficult and complex; others come more easily and naturally. For me, the latter was the case with my decision to pursue a career in infectious diseases. From early first year pharmacology classes, to learning at the feet of ID giants like Harold Neu, Glenda Garvey, Mark Goldberger and many others in my 3rd and 4th years, going into ID was an easy choice.

Data indicate that fewer medical students and fellows are joining the HIV workforce, perhaps under the impression that HIV is no longer the exciting and rewarding field it once was. We asked Infectious Disease News Editorial Board Member Peter Chin-Hong, MD, professor of medicine and director of the transplant infectious disease program at University of California, San Francisco, what the “new HIV” is — the ID-related field that is attracting today’s young clinicians.

For patients with both chronic kidney disease and the hepatitis C virus, an education and support tool increased knowledge of the conditions, thereby making patients more certain of — and engaged with — their treatment decisions, according to the results of this study.

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.

In 2018, infections were the cause of 13% of all new cancer diagnoses, totaling 2.2 million new cases worldwide, although these totals do not include nonmelanoma skin cancers, according to findings published in The Lancet Global Health.

Patients with hepatitis B and C virus infections should be screened for risk before receiving antipsoriatic therapy, according to a study published by the American Journal of Clinical Dermatology.

To mark the transition to a new year, we have compiled a list of the top 10 most-read Infectious Disease News stories of 2019 on Healio.com. Please click the links to read the full stories.

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.

I was the intern on call for the pediatric oncology service at Vanderbilt Children’s Hospital when my mother called with news that my father had experienced a stroke. My colleagues covered the service while my wife and I drove quickly to my hometown a few hours away. My dad had, indeed, experienced a large middle cerebral artery stroke, but curiously he was also highly febrile (40.5C). In the hours and days to follow, we would learn that he had a large mitral valve vegetation, that he had group B Streptococcus bacteremia and that he would not survive the event.

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.