Hepatitis C

Hepatitis C features

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  We’re getting there: towards a comprehensive hepatitis C cure

  Research on new cures for hepatitis C has made rapid progress, Gus Cairns reports....

  From:HIV treatment update

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  Staying safe inside: HIV and hepatitis C health care in prison

  Policies on safer sex and needle exchange in UK prisons seem to have stalled. With a high and increasing prevalence of hepatitis C in our jails, and...

  From:HIV treatment update

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  Staying free of hepatitis C

  It's still not clear exactly how HIV-positive gay men are contracting hepatitis C through sex. Until we know with certainty, Derek Thaczuk asks, how can we avoid co-infection?...

  From:HIV treatment update

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  Combinations and conundrums: the challenges of hepatitis C treatment

  A multiplicity of new drugs for hepatitis C are being researched. As Gus Cairns discovers, though, they face an elusive enemy, a shape-shifter of a virus that won’t...

  From:HIV treatment update

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  The new epidemic: HIV and hepatitis C infection in gay men

  “I’m surprised there isn’t a greater sense of urgency about this in the community.” Those were the words of Dr Kevin Fenton of the US Centers for...

  From:HIV treatment update

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  Double trouble – how hepatitis C is on the increase in HIV-positive gay men

  Studies at CROI showed how hepatitis C is gaining ground, says Gus Cairns. ...

  From:HIV treatment update

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  Management of HIV and hepatitis B or C co-infection in resource-limited settings

  Review of management of HIV and hepatitis co-infection with particular focus on antiretroviral therapy and liver disease in resource-limited settings....

  From:HIV & AIDS treatment in practice

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  Viral hepatitis in low and middle-income settings

  Management of HIV and hepatitis B or C co-infection in resource-limited settings....

  From:HIV & AIDS treatment in practice

Hepatitis C in your own words

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  Living with HIV and hep C co-infection and haemophilia

  For most people, coping with HIV is enough of a problem in itself, but when you throw in a lifetime disorder such as haemophilia, and...

  From:In your own words

Hepatitis C news from aidsmap

• Hepatitis C testing rate low and knowledge of the infection poor in the US "baby boomer" generation

  Only a quarter of US individuals in the generation most likely to have hepatitis C have ever been tested for the infection, results of a survey conducted by the American Gastroenterological Association (AGA) show. Moreover, 80% of patients in ...

  18 May 2012 | Michael Carter

• Standard hepatitis C therapy improves insulin resistance in HIV/hepatitis C co-infected patients

  Treatment with pegylated interferon and ribavirin is associated with lasting improvements in insulin resistance among HIV-positive people co-infected with hepatitis C, investigators report in the online edition of Clinical Infectious Diseases. Hepatitis C therapy was also associated with transient falls in ...

  16 May 2012 | Michael Carter

• BI 201335 & BI 207127 and ribavirin shows good efficacy, including hepatitis C patients with cirrhosis

  An interferon-free regimen of the hepatitis C virus (HCV) protease inhibitor BI 201335, the non-nucleoside polymerase inhibitor BI 207127, and ribavirin produced sustained virological response in 68% of previously untreated genotype 1 hepatitis C patients, with favourable safety and efficacy ...

  15 May 2012 | Liz Highleyman

• Ribavirin dose reduction is effective for managing anaemia in patients using boceprevir or telaprevir

  Reducing the dose of ribavirin and adding erythropoietin are both good options for managing anaemia in hepatitis C patients treated with boceprevir (Victrelis) triple therapy, according to study findings presented at the 47th International Liver Congress (EASL 2012) in ...

  11 May 2012 | Liz Highleyman

• Depression and pegylated interferon: doctors look at screening strategies and treatment

  Patients with hepatitis C should be carefully evaluated for symptoms of depression before and during pegylated interferon-based therapy, investigators write in the International Journal of Interferon, Cytokine and Mediator Research. The authors also highlighted evidence showing that SSRI antidepressants are ...

  09 May 2012 | Michael Carter

• Co-infection with hepatitis C increases mortality risk by 50% for patients with AIDS

  Co-infection with hepatitis C increases the risk of death for patients with AIDS by 50%, according to the results of a large study published in the online edition of Clinical Infectious Diseases. A fifth of these deaths were attributable ...

  06 May 2012 | Michael Carter

• GS-7977 with interferon/ribavirin cures most treatment-naive hepatitis C patients in 12 weeks

  Adding GS-7977 to pegylated interferon and ribavirin for 12 weeks led to a sustained response rate of 90% for previously untreated chronic hepatitis C patients with difficult-to-treat genotype 1, researchers reported at the 47th International Liver Congress (EASL 2012) last ...

  30 April 2012 | Liz Highleyman

• Chronic hepatitis B infection associated with twice the risk of liver-related death compared to hepatitis C

  The risk of death due to liver disease is twice as high for patients with chronic hepatitis B infection compared to individuals with chronic hepatitis C, US researchers report in the online edition of Clinical Infectious Diseases. The study ...

  27 April 2012 | Michael Carter

• Incidence of hepatitis C re-infection and clearance may be understimated

  The incidence of hepatitis C re-infection among high-risk individuals who have spontaneously cleared the infection may be higher than previously assumed, a modelling study published in the May 1st edition of the Journal of Infectious Diseases suggests. The study ...

  26 April 2012 | Michael Carter

• Boceprevir a useful option for patients who did not respond to earlier course of hepatitis C therapy

  A regimen of boceprevir with pegylated interferon and ribavirin achieved cure rates of between 40 and 68% in patients who did not respond to a previous course of hepatitis C therapy, data presented to the 47th International Liver Congress ...

  23 April 2012 | Michael Carter

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Hepatitis C news selected from other sources

• HCV patients may be able to delay therapy

  Hepatitis C patients without significant fibrosis may be able to delay triple therapy and wait for simpler, shorter, and potentially all-oral regimens that are currently under investigation, researchers said here.

  23 May 2012 | MedPage Today

• Hepatitis C Causing Liver Damage in Greater Numbers: Study

  Hundreds of thousands of Americans infected with chronic hepatitis C virus could develop potentially life-threatening liver complications over the next few years, according to a new study. An additional 300,000 Americans could develop advanced liver disease from the virus by 2015

  23 May 2012 | Health Day News

• CDC recommends hepatitis C tests for all baby boomers

  The federal government Friday called for all baby boomers to be tested for hepatitis C, which kills more Americans each year than AIDS and is the leading reason for liver transplants.

  20 May 2012 | Washington Post

• Incivek Rash Reports: What HIV/Hepatitis C-Coinfected People Need to Know

  It turns out that Incivek (telaprevir), one of the HCV protease inhibitors approved last year, is also associated with rash. About half of patients who take Incivek get a rash. It can sometimes be itchy, too. Most of the time the rash is mild or moderate.

  18 May 2012 | The Body

• Four Bad Actors Cause Most Infection-Related Cancer

  Three types of viruses and 1 bacterium cause the vast majority of the new cases of cancer worldwide that are attributable to infections, according to a new study of global data.

  11 May 2012 | Medscape (requires registration)

• Aethlon Medical Reports Undetectable Hepatitis C Virus (HCV) in Genotype 1, Genotype 3, and Genotype 5 Patients Treated with Hemopurifier® Therapy

  Aethlon Medical, Inc., the pioneer in developing selective therapeutic filtration devices to address infectious disease, cancer and other life-threatening conditions, reported today that the presence of Hepatitis C virus (HCV) is currently undetectable in all infected patients that have been treated with the Aethlon Hemopurifier® in combination with peginterferon+ribavirin (PR) drug therapy and monitored for at least ninety days.

  08 May 2012 | MarketWatch (press release)

• Liver transplants in HIV-HCV co-infection—results from a U.S. study

  Researchers in the U.S. have conducted a study of carefully selected HIV-positive people who were also co-infected with hepatitis C virus (HCV) and who needed a liver transplant. After the transplant and an average of three years of monitoring, researchers found that 60% of participants were still alive.

  08 May 2012 | CATIE

• Hepatitis C a latent legacy of baby boomers' youth

  The number of baby boomers dying from a "silent epidemic" of hepatitis C infections is increasing so rapidly that federal officials are planning a new nationwide push for widespread testing.

  02 May 2012 | Los Angeles Times

• Scotland: Quality Indicators for Hepatitis C

  The quality indicators focus on prevention, testing and assessment, treatment and support, and service organisation related to hepatitis C infection. We will establish a process for reporting on the quality indicators using data from existing national databases.

  30 April 2012 | Health Care Improvement Scotland

• US: do not mix Merck hepatitis pill with HIV drugs

  U.S. drug regulators are changing the label for Merck & Co Inc's recently approved Victrelis treatment for hepatitis C to show it should not be taken with some widely used HIV medicines.

  27 April 2012 | Reuters

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