Hepatitis Delta Virus

As you read these words, you may be learning for the first time about hepatitis delta virus — a lesser-known type of hepatitis that is potentially life-threatening.

In a Healio video exclusive, Edward V. Loftus Jr., MD, warned that, despite being the smallest virus capable of causing human disease, hepatitis delta virus holds an outsized global impact as the most severe form of viral hepatitis.

In a Healio video exclusive, Anu Osinusi, MD, MPH, reports that combination bulevirtide 10 mg with pegylated interferon alfa-2a for chronic hepatitis D virus infection resulted in the highest rates of undetectable HDV RNA through 48 weeks.

Gastroenterology had a big year in 2022, with potentially game-changing FDA approvals for inflammatory bowel disease and several first-in-class therapies, yet the FDA’s rejection of the first hepatitis D therapy still looms large.

Healio spoke with Meg Doherty, MD, MPH, PhD, Director Global HIV, Hepatitis and STI Programmes at WHO, about elimination efforts for hepatitis D, including how hepatitis D would be affected by WHO Global Hepatitis Elimination goals and what U.S. physician can do to help work towards hepatitis elimination.

Healio spoke with John D. Scott, MD, MSc, FIDSA, chief digital health officer at UW Medicine, professor of allergy and infectious diseases at University of Washington and medical director at the Liver Clinic at Harborview Medical Center, to learn more about what PCPs can do to help prevent and screen for HDV.

Direct-acting antivirals for hepatitis C have dominated hepatitis research for the past decade and have revolutionized the treatment of HCV, but the emergence of new treatment options has put hepatitis D back in the spotlight.

Monotherapy with bulevirtide among patients with compensated hepatitis delta was safe and well tolerated, according to a presentation at the International Liver Congress.