Hepatitis C News

BOSTON — New incidences of hepatitis C virus infection among men who have sex with men, or MSM, who are actively using pre-exposure prophylaxis for HIV prevention appeared to be less common than previously shown, according to data presented at The Liver Meeting 2019.

SAN ANTONIO — Researchers observed sex-specific and ethnicity-specific disparities in successful linkage to care for chronic hepatitis C, including poor health literacy, lack of insurance, and fear of stigma that ultimately lowers screening and treatment rates, according to data presented at the American College of Gastroenterology Annual Meeting.

I did my internal medicine residency at Yale New Haven Hospital in the years immediately before the advent of protease inhibitors would change the face of ART. In addition to caring for many young gay men with AIDS, I saw the side of the epidemic that even today remains relatively hidden in the United States, and is operative throughout much of sub-Saharan Africa: young women — often black — who presented late in the disease, having been infected by boyfriends or husbands. I was on call when one of my favorite patients, Shirley B., was admitted to die, and the team paged me to let me know so I could see her. I’ll never forget their kindness in doing that and my visit to her room. These experiences solidified not only my interest in ID but in advancing women’s reproductive health and autonomy related to ID and HIV prevention. Vaginal health? Female-controlled prevention methods? These were not sexy concepts that attracted big names during my subsequent training and early research career. Luckily, through persistence and commitment and probably some measure of stubborn cluelessness, I connected with some brave visionary mentors who believed there was a future in this arena and who themselves had battled for sexual and reproductive health — women, LGBT people, others not always at the proverbial table when funding or policy priorities are set. The rest is my personal history, and I know that only in ID would I have been able to accomplish any of it.

Compared with the general population, researchers found that the incidence of syphilis was more than 3 times greater in patients with ESKD.

Patients who developed hepatitis C-related hepatocellular carcinoma after achieving sustained virologic response with interferon-free direct-acting antivirals had a 60% to 70% improvement in 5-year survival compared with untreated patients.

In August, the U.S. Preventive Services Task Force issued a draft recommendation that encourages clinicians to screen all adults aged 18 to 79 years for HCV infection, including pregnant women. According to the USPSTF, HCV prevalence doubled among women aged 15 to 44 years between 2006 and 2014. Due to the increasing prevalence of the disease in this age group, the task force said clinicians “may want to consider screening pregnant persons aged younger than age 18 years.”

In August, the U.S. Preventive Services Task Force issued a draft recommendation that encourages clinicians to screen all adults aged 18 to 79 years for HCV infection, including pregnant women. According to the USPSTF, HCV prevalence doubled among women aged 15 to 44 years between 2006 and 2014. Due to the increasing prevalence of the disease in this age group, the task force said clinicians “may want to consider screening pregnant persons aged younger than age 18 years.”

From 2013 through 2016, an estimated 2.4 million adults in the United States had a current hepatitis C virus infection. A study published in The American Journal of Public Health reported that the infection rate increased more than twofold between 2004 and 2014 as a result of the opioid epidemic.

From 2013 through 2016, an estimated 2.4 million adults in the United States had a current hepatitis C virus infection. A study published in The American Journal of Public Health reported that the infection rate increased more than twofold between 2004 and 2014 as a result of the opioid epidemic.

In contrast to previous study results, hepatocellular carcinoma and decompensated cirrhosis rates were similar between patients coinfected with hepatitis C and HIV and those with hepatitis C alone, according to data.