Hepatitis C News

Patients with hepatitis C genotype 1 through 4 who underwent liver transplantation had significantly high rates of sustained virologic response after treatment with Epclusa for 12 weeks, regardless of cirrhosis status, according to recently published data.

WASHINGTON — Researchers identified a cohort of homeless veterans who successfully completed hepatitis C treatment and achieved sustained virologic response, including patients with polysubstance use, according to a presentation at Digestive Disease Week 2018.

All-oral direct-acting antiviral regimens delivered within a multidisciplinary care model are safe and effective in treating hepatitis C virus infection in people who inject drugs, according study findings published in Open Forum Infectious Diseases.

Despite the availability of highly effective direct-acting antiviral therapy for chronic hepatitis C virus infection, both public and private health insurers in the United States continue to deny coverage for the drugs at increasingly high rates, according to a study published today in Open Forum Infectious Diseases.

The Canadian Association for the Study of the Liver, or CASL, released a guideline today that now recommends screening patients born between 1945 and 1975 for hepatitis C virus.

WASHINGTON — In this exclusive video perspective from Digestive Disease Week 2018, Zobair M. Younossi, MD, chairman of the department of medicine at Inova Fairfax Hospital in Virginia, discusses insurance coverage and mortality in patients with hepatitis C in the U.S.

The American Association for the Study of Liver Diseases and the Infectious Diseases Society of America recently updated their hepatitis guideline website, HCVguidelines.org, to include several new testing and management recommendations for pregnant women, men who have sex with men, people who inject drugs and incarcerated individuals.

Between 2001 and 2011, more than 130,000 patients may have been exposed to hepatitis C virus infection because of medical errors, and only 37% were proactively notified before the onset of symptoms, according researchers.

Viral hepatitis refers to several types of inflammatory liver infections that can lead to serious complications like fibrosis or cirrhosis. While some types of hepatitis may be prevented with vaccination and others can clear spontaneously, many patients remain unaware of the risks for infection or their current infection status.

Results of a survey of liver patient groups from 25 European countries showed that a minority of European prisons provide adequate infectious disease prevention, such as harm reduction programs and hepatitis C screening.