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Half of People With Hepatitis C Don't Complete Needed Tests: CDC
Posted 15 days ago by Drugs.com
TUESDAY, May 7 – Only about half of Americans who are infected with hepatitis C undergo follow-up testing to determine if they are still infected, federal officials reported Tuesday. "Many people who test positive on an initial hepatitis C test are not receiving the necessary follow-up test to know if their body has cleared the virus or if they are still infected," Dr. Tom Frieden, director of the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, said in an agency news release. "Complete testing is critical to ensure that those who are infected receive the care and treatment for hepatitis C that they need in order to prevent liver cancer and other serious and potentially deadly health consequences," Frieden said. A blood test, called an antibody test, is used to check if a person has ever been infected with hepatitis C. For people who have had a positive result, a follow-up test – ... Read more
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Experimental Drug for Hepatitis C Promising, Studies Show
Posted 23 Apr 2013 by Drugs.com
TUESDAY, April 23 – A new treatment for difficult-to-treat hepatitis C has higher cure rates, takes less time and causes fewer side effects than the current therapy, new research finds. When the new drug, sofosbuvir, is combined with the medication ribavirin, cure rates are as high as traditional therapy, which pairs ribavirin and pegylated interferon, the researchers say. But patients taking sofosbuvir – a once-a-day pill – are spared the severe side effects associated with interferon. "This is an exciting time in which we are witnessing a fundamental paradigm shift in the way we treat hepatitis C," said researcher Dr. Ira Jacobson, chief of the division of gastroenterology and hepatology at the Weill Cornell Medical College in New York City. Many people with hepatitis C can't or won't use interferon, Jacobson said. Its side effects can include sleep problems, anxiety, irritability ... Read more
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Experimental Drug May Work Against Hepatitis C
Posted 27 Mar 2013 by Drugs.com
WEDNESDAY, March 27 – An experimental therapy for hepatitis C – a "silent killer" linked to liver cancer and cirrhosis – has shown promise in tamping down virus levels in early trials. Experts caution, however, that it's too soon to know if the injectable drug will someday gain a standing among emerging oral medications against the disease. New research suggests that the drug, miravirsen, could potentially be part of a drug "cocktail" that manages the hepatitis C virus in much the same way as similar combinations have transformed HIV/AIDS from a death sentence into a chronic, manageable condition. Miravirsen suppresses molecules the hepatitis C virus needs to reproduce. The drug decreased viral loads by about 500-fold at the highest doses used in a small, phase 2 study by an international group of researchers. Drug resistance, a common problem with other hepatitis C medications, did ... Read more
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New Pills Show Promise for Hepatitis C
Posted 2 Jan 2013 by Drugs.com
WEDNESDAY, Jan. 2 – Two new pills on the horizon for people with hepatitis C promise shorter treatment time and fewer side effects than today's standard treatment, interferon. The first treatment studied combines a drug currently called ABT-450/r and one called ABT-333. Together, these drugs achieved up to a 95 percent sustained response, meaning the drugs suppressed levels of hepatitis C in the blood over time. The second drug, called sofosbuvir, when combined with the currently used medication ribavirin, induced a 100 percent sustained response rate, the researchers found. Both drugs require just 12 weeks of treatment compared to today's standard of 48 weeks, according to the authors. "Over the next few years, we're going to have several new options to eradicate the hepatitis C virus," said the lead author of the ABT-450/r study, Dr. Fred Poordad, a professor of medicine at the ... Read more
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Patient Survival Rises When Drugs Suppress Hepatitis C in Blood: Study
Posted 26 Dec 2012 by Drugs.com
TUESDAY, Dec. 25 – Patients with hepatitis C who have no detectable virus in their blood for six months after treatment are less likely to die than those who don't have this "sustained viral response" after treatment, a new study finds. "Sustained viral response was associated with prolonged overall survival," wrote a Dutch team led by Dr. Adriaan van der Meer, of Erasmus MC University Medical Center, Rotterdam. "The risk of all-cause mortality was almost fourfold lower in [these] patients" compared to patients whose viral load was not suppressed for six months or more, they said. In the article, published in the Dec. 26 issue of the Journal of the American Medical Association, the researchers noted that "chronic hepatitis C virus infection is a major cause of cirrhosis, hepatocellular carcinoma [liver cancer], and end-stage liver disease," and the incidence of these types of ... Read more
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Hepatitis: The Hidden Hazard
Posted 21 Dec 2012 by Drugs.com
FRIDAY, Dec. 21 – Of all the diseases people worry about getting, viral hepatitis is usually way down on the list. Most often it's thought of as a disease that affects only drug addicts or the sexually promiscuous. Though those groups are at higher risk, almost anyone can contract hepatitis. "The vast majority of people who have viral hepatitis, especially hepatitis C, don't know they have it, and that's the biggest problem we have with hepatitis," said Dr. David Bernstein, chief of hepatology at North Shore University Hospital in Manhasset, N.Y. A bipartisan bill was introduced in Congress last year, the Viral Hepatitis Testing Act of 2011, that would establish a national system to identify the incidence of hepatitis B and C infections, and provide funding to increase the availability of testing. According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), more than 2 million ... Read more
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One Man's Harrowing Battle With Hepatitis C
Posted 21 Dec 2012 by Drugs.com
FRIDAY, Dec. 21 – Ted Adamson's liver had been so ravaged by the hepatitis C virus that he was nearly at the point of needing a liver transplant. Yet he had no symptoms. None. He didn't even feel tired. Fortunately for Adamson, a move from one state to another had prompted a health insurance change, and his new doctor suggested a battery of tests, including a hepatitis C test. Adamson wasn't particularly concerned about hepatitis C, but because he'd had a blood transfusion after an accident in the mid-1970s, and he'd been a drug user in his late teens and 20s, he agreed to the test. "I was shocked when the doctor told me I had hepatitis C," said Adamson, of Riverside, Calif. "I was completely asymptomatic, and I'd been off drugs for 35 years." He added that it's not clear whether he got hepatitis C from his blood transfusion or the drug use. The doctor recommended a liver biopsy, which ... Read more
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FDA Medwatch Alert: Incivek (telaprevir) In Combination with Drugs Peginterferon Alfa and Ribavirin (Incivek combination treatment): Drug Safety Communication - Serious Skin Reactions
Posted 20 Dec 2012 by Drugs.com
ISSUE: FDA received reports of serious skin reactions, some fatal, in patients taking the hepatitis C drug Incivek (telaprevir) in combination with the drugs peginterferon alfa and ribavirin (Incivek combination treatment). Some patients died when they continued to receive Incivek combination treatment after developing a worsening, or progressive rash and systemic symptoms (symptoms affecting the entire body). See the FDA Drug Safety Communication Data Summary section for additional information. FDA is adding a boxed warning to the Incivek drug label stating that Incivek combination treatment must be immediately stopped in patients experiencing a rash with systemic symptoms or a progressive severe rash. BACKGROUND: Incivek is a hepatic C virus NS3/4A protease inhibitor indicated in combination with peginterferon alfa and ribavirin for the treatment of genotype 1 chronic hepatitis C in ... Read more
Related support groups: Hepatitis C, Incivek, Telaprevir
'Boomers' With Hepatitis C Boosting Demand for Liver Transplants
Posted 19 Dec 2012 by Drugs.com
WEDNESDAY, Dec. 19 – An aging population of adults with hepatitis C is behind an increasing demand for liver transplantation in the United States, a new study reveals. The findings suggest that the development of liver cancer in baby boomers with hepatitis C is spurring the continuing increased demand for liver transplantation, but that the demand may decrease as these patients grow older, the study authors said. The researchers analyzed data from the Organ Procurement and Transplantation Network between 1995 and 2010, and found that nearly 127,000 new candidates for first liver transplant registered with the network during that time. Forty-one percent of those patients had hepatitis C. People born between 1941 and 1960 accounted for 81 percent of all new liver transplant registrants infected with the virus, according to the study in the December issue of the journal Liver ... Read more
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U.S. Task Force: Baby Boomers Should Be Tested for Hepatitis C
Posted 26 Nov 2012 by Drugs.com
MONDAY, Nov. 26 – A U.S. task force suggests that people at high risk for the hepatitis C virus should be screened, which includes those with a history of intravenous drug use and those who received blood transfusions before 1992. But, the guidelines also address another, lower-risk group – the baby boomer generation. The new U.S. Preventive Services Task Force guidelines, released Monday and updated from 2004, take a somewhat softer stance than those of the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, which say that all baby boomers should get screened for hepatitis C. By contrast, the task force suggests that clinicians "consider" screening for this age group, which includes those born between 1946 and 1964. Screening for hepatitis C involves a simple, inexpensive blood test. Unlike other types of hepatitis, there is no vaccine available for hepatitis C. Treatment typically ... Read more
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FDA Approves New Indication for Promacta (eltrombopag)
Posted 20 Nov 2012 by Drugs.com
LONDON, Nov. 19, 2012 – GlaxoSmithKline plc announced today that the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has approved Promacta for the treatment of thrombocytopenia (low blood platelet counts) in patients with chronic hepatitis C to allow them to initiate and maintain interferon-based therapy. Promacta is the first supportive care treatment available to patients who are ineligible or poor candidates for interferon-based therapy due to their low blood platelet counts. Promacta in combination with interferon-based therapy has been shown to improve a patient's chance of achieving a sustained virologic response (SVR) or viral cure. There are limitations to the use of Promacta in patients suffering from chronic hepatitis C-associated thrombocytopenia. These include: Promacta should not be used in an attempt to normalize platelet counts; Promacta should be used only in patients with ch ... Read more
Related support groups: Hepatitis C, Thrombocytopenia, Eltrombopag, Promacta, Hepatitis C, Chronic
Black Women With Both HIV, Hep C Less Likely to Die From Liver Disease
Posted 9 Nov 2012 by Drugs.com
FRIDAY, Nov. 9 – Black women infected with both hepatitis C virus (HCV) and HIV are less likely to die from liver disease than white or Hispanic women with the two infections, a new study finds. University of California, San Francisco researchers looked at 794 U.S. women with HIV/HCV co-infection. During an average follow-up of nearly nine years, 438 of the women died, 37 percent from HIV/AIDS and 11 percent from liver disease. The death rate was nearly 56 percent for blacks, 56 percent for whites, and 52 percent for Hispanics. Liver disease was the primary cause of death in 21 percent of Hispanics, 14 percent of whites and 8 percent of blacks. The study was published in the November issue of the journal Hepatology. Further research is needed to determine why black women with HIV and HCV are less likely to die of liver disease than white or Hispanic women with HIV/HCV co-infection, ... Read more
Related support groups: Hepatitis C, HIV Infection
Antiviral Therapy for Hepatitis C May Thwart Liver Cancer
Posted 23 Oct 2012 by Drugs.com
TUESDAY, Oct. 23 – Using antiviral drugs to treat patients with chronic hepatitis C infection may greatly reduce their risk of liver cancer, according to a new study. Hepatitis C is a leading cause of liver cancer and other liver diseases and is the leading cause of liver transplants. According to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, each year more than 15,000 Americans die from hepatitis C-related illness, such as cirrhosis and liver cancer. Deaths from the virus have been increasing for over a decade and are expected to increase in the coming years. In the new study, Nina Kimer and colleagues at Copenhagen University in Denmark reviewed eight published clinical trials on the use of antiviral therapy – interferon or pegylated interferon, or ribavirin, or a combination – in patients with chronic hepatitis C infection. Almost 1,200 patients in the studies received ... Read more
Related support groups: Hepatitis C, Pegasys, Ribavirin, PegIntron, Interferon Alfa-2B, Copegus, Ribasphere, Rebetol, Interferon Alfa-2A, Interferon Alfa-2B/Ribavirin, Peginterferon Alfa-2B, Rebetron, Peginterferon Alfa-2A, Virazole, RibaPak
Test All Baby Boomers For Hepatitis C: CDC
Posted 16 Aug 2012 by Drugs.com
THURSDAY, Aug. 16 – Every American born between 1945 and 1965 should be tested for the liver-destroying virus hepatitis C, the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention recommended Thursday. One in 30 Baby Boomers is infected with the virus and most don't know it. Hepatitis C is a leading cause of liver cancer and other liver diseases, and is the leading cause of liver transplants, the CDC said. "And deaths from hepatitis C have nearly doubled over the past decade," CDC Director Dr. Thomas Frieden said during an afternoon news conference. "Unless we take action now, deaths will increase substantially in the coming years." Baby boomers are five times more likely to have hepatitis C than other adult Americans, Frieden said. So, the CDC is now recommending one-time testing for hepatitis C for everyone in the country born between 1945 and 1965, he said. All those who test positive ... Read more
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Hepatitis C Treatment May Hamper Kids' Growth
Posted 13 Aug 2012 by Drugs.com
MONDAY, Aug. 13 – Children with hepatitis C who are treated with peginterferon alpha may experience growth-related side effects from the therapy, a new study reveals. Although weight changes are reversible, many children's height for their age may be lower even after the treatment for hepatitis C virus (HCV) ends, the researchers found. The study was published in the August issue of Hepatology. "While HCV in children is typically mild, some cases do progress to cirrhosis and liver cancer," lead study author Dr. Maureen Jonas, director of the Center for Childhood Liver Disease and medical director of the Liver Transplant Program at Boston Children's Hospital, said in a journal news release. "Treatment of HCV with peginterferon and ribavirin is approved for young children and offers the most benefit while liver disease is mild. However, there are concerns about the potential side effects ... Read more
Related support groups: Hepatitis C, Pegasys, PegIntron, Peginterferon Alfa-2B, Peginterferon Alfa-2A, Sylatron
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Incivek, Pegasys, ribavirin, Victrelis, PegIntron, interferon alfa-2b, Copegus, telaprevir, Ribasphere, view more... Rebetol, boceprevir, peginterferon alfa-2b, interferon alfa-2a, interferon alfa-2b/ribavirin, Rebetron, peginterferon alfa-2a, RibaPak, RibaTab, Infergen, interferon alfacon-1, Roferon-A