Hepatitis C News

Low levels of free testosterone are common among men with chronic hepatitis C infection following SVR and persist after HCV clearance, according to findings from a prospective, longitudinal cohort study.

More than two-thirds of patients with hepatitis C who visited a Federally Qualified Health Center in Philadelphia were linked to care, including both antibody and RNA testing, and many continued to medical evaluation, according to a study published in Hepatology.

Patients undergoing direct-acting antiviral therapy for hepatitis C who had non-characterized liver nodules had a higher risk for hepatocellular carcinoma within a short follow-up time than other patients, according to a recently published study.

As defined by WHO targets, the goal to eliminate hepatitis C virus globally by 2030 will be “narrowly missed,” but is possible by 2032 using new tools and “ambitious, integrated interventions,” study findings showed.

In the United States, the proportion of organ donations made by donors at an increased risk for hepatitis B, hepatitis C and HIV infection has tripled since 2010, likely because of overdoses attributed to the opioid epidemic, but nearly all donations are now being tested, researchers said.

Lincoln Financial Group and the American Liver Foundation have joined together to raise awareness of hepatitis C in the U.S. and improve educational resources, according to a press release.

I followed a somewhat circuitous route to a career in ID. In medical school and residency, I was strongly drawn to oncology but got a bit distracted by also falling in love with viruses, especially retroviruses. I worked in research virology labs all through college and medical school, and as retroviruses were considered as potentially causing common cancers in humans, that research was typically found not in ID but rather in oncology divisions. I came to UCSF in 1978 for my oncology fellowship and to work in Jay Levy’s retrovirus lab. But when an ID giant, Merle Sande, offered me the chance to start a medical oncology division at San Francisco General Hospital immediately following the end of my training, I eagerly accepted. I left retrovirus research forever, only to walk into the very beginning of the AIDS epidemic on July 1,st 1981, when I saw the first Kaposi sarcoma KSpatient admitted to SFGH. I started the world’s first comprehensive AIDS clinic with Connie Wofsy, my ID counterpart in 1983 and when HIV was discovered (in part by Jay), I realized I might get back to my favorite viruses! While I still feel as if part of me is in oncology, my community is clearly ID! Definitely hooked on ID!

Patients with complete response to hepatocellular carcinoma and underwent direct-acting antiviral therapy for hepatitis C had similar rates of cancer recurrence compared with patients who did not receive DAA therapy, according to a study published in Gastroenterology.

HepVu — an interactive online resource designed to visualize data on the U.S. hepatitis C epidemic — announced the release of new interactive maps that provide state-level estimates of HCV infections, according to a press release and online presentation.

Researchers discovered a substantial proportion of patients with newly diagnosed cancer and concurrent hepatitis C or hepatitis B were unaware of their viral infection and many had no identifiable risk factors, according to a recently published study.