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Is There Now A Cure For Hepatitis C

Initial Treatment Options: Interferon And Rbv

New treatment to cure Hepatitis C

Until the early 1990s, there was no treatment available for CHC. It was during this decade that the benefits of interferon-alfa therapy were reported, leading to a recommended treatment regimen, comprising a 24- or 48-week course of interferon-alfa 2a or 2b, depending on genotype. Patients required three times weekly injections, and outcomes were poor, with 10% of patients successfully clearing the virus. The addition of RBV to interferon-alfa therapy considerably improved outcomes, increasing SVR rates to approximately 3040%.

Pegylated interferon and RBV

Does Everyone Need Hepatitis C Treatment

About one in four people clear hepatitis C on their own , but most people need treatment to cure hepatitis C. When someone doesnt clear the virus within the first six months, they have a chronic hepatitis C infection.

If you have been diagnosed with chronic hepatitis C, you need treatment to be cured. Speak with a nurse or doctor about your treatment options.

Helpful Tips While Taking Hepatitis C Medications

  • Always follow your health care providers’ advice, particularly the instructions on taking your medicine.
  • If you have to cancel an appointment, call your provider and schedule a new one as soon as possible.
  • Take good care of yourself. Eat well, drink 8 to 10 glasses of water each day, and try to get a full night’s sleep.
  • Learn about the hepatitis C medications you are taking. This includes special risks and warnings.
  • If taking ribavirin, use sunscreen, wear long sleeves and a hat, and limit sun exposure.
  • Write down your doctor’s name and phone number. Carry this information with you at all times.
  • Write the names and amounts of the medicines you are taking. Carry this information with you at all times.

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How Does Being Cured Help Me

  • The hepatitis C virus can no longer injure your liver. Treatment also prevents liver failure and lowers your chances of getting liver cancer.
  • The health of your liver may get better over time.
  • You may have more energy or less body pain. For many people, quality of life gets better.
  • You cannot pass the hepatitis C virus to other people.

How Effective Is Treatment

Hepatitis C medications: New, most effective, and names

Direct acting antivirals cure 9 out of 10 patients with hepatitis C.

Successful treatment does not give you any protection against another hepatitis C infection. You can still catch it again.

There’s no vaccine for hepatitis C.

If treatment does not work, it may be repeated, extended, or a different combination of medicines may be tried.

Your doctor or nurse will be able to advise you.

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Can Hepatitis C Be Treated

Yes, since 2010 enormous progress has been made in the treatment of chronic hepatitis C. New therapies called direct-acting antivirals are pills that act on the virus itself to eradicate it from the body, unlike older medicines like interferon injections which work by stimulating an immune response. These new treatments are very effective and can achieve cure rates of over 90%. In most situations now, there is no need for interferon, which was responsible for many of the side effects previously associated with HCV treatment. The new treatment combinations require shorter treatment durations , have reduced side effects and appear to be effective at all stages of the disease.

Because these new therapies are very new, they remain very expensive. As such, drug coverage from both government and private companies may require that your liver disease has progressed to a certain stage before they are willing to cover the cost of these drugs.

Your primary care physician may refer you to a specialist to determine whether you are eligible for treatment. A specialist will help you decide which drug therapy is best for you based on the severity of your liver disease, your virus genotype and whether or not you have been treated in the past.

We Have A Cure For Hepatitis C Why Are Rates So High

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We have had the ability to cure many people of hepatitis C — a common viral infection of the liver — since 2011. These new drugs are effective at curing most strains of the virus and have far fewer side effects than earlier generations of treatment. Despite these major scientific advances, however, hepatitis C rates remain high, particularly among those who are also living with HIV, as well as among people in prison and people using drugs, particularly drugs taken by injection.

Our lack of progress toward eliminating hepatitis lies in a poor screening and surveillance system, the continuing opioid epidemic, and the high cost of the cures — which has led many insurers, most notably Medicaid, to limit treatment to those who are already suffering some of the long-term consequences of this infection.

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Will Community Pharmacies Be Able To Dispense These New Hepatitis C Drugs

Community pharmacists will be able to dispense the drugs. However, because these are new drugs, it may take time for pharmacies to order in sufficient stock to meet demand.

This means that patients may need to wait a couple of days after providing their script for the drugs to be available from their local pharmacy.

What Does It Mean To Have A Successful Treatment What Is A Sustained Virologic Response

There is a cure for hepatitis C

In an untreated state, the hepatitis C virus infects the cells of the liver and then continuously lives there, making copies of itself that circulate in the bloodstream. Antiviral medications can destroy the ability of the virus to reproduce, so the amount of virus in the bloodstream then decreases. The amount of virus in the blood is measured by aviral load.

Treatment is successful when the viral load drops toundetectablelevels, which means the virus cannot be detected in the bloodstream at all. The viral load becomes undetectable during treatment and remains undetected after treatment has ended. If there is still no detectable virus in the blood 12 weeks after the end of the treatment, the treatment was successful. This is called a Sustained Virologic Response .

A patient who has achieved an SVR is considered to be cured of the hepatitis C virus.

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Modes Of Hcv Transmission

Health care-associated transmission, through unsterilized needles or transfusion with contaminated blood, remains a major route of HCV infection, particularly in low- and middle-income countries . While uncommon in high-income settings, iatrogenic infection has also been reported in European countries including France and Italy,, and in isolated hospital outbreaks in the US., Indeed, a study of CHC patients in southern Italy showed surgery and dental therapy to be important risk factors for HCV infection. People who inject drugs, carrying out high-risk activities such as needle sharing, also account for a significant number of worldwide infections. Principally, this has been the most important factor in the developed world. However, more recently, emerging intravenous drug usage in LMICs has been shown as an important vector for HCV transmission. Other modes of HCV transmission include vertical mother-to-infant transmission, men who have sex with men, and the increasingly common trend of body art with tattooing.

Hepatitis C Treatment: Lifestyle Changes And Vaccines

There are also lifestyle changes you should make if you are diagnosed. If you are diagnosed with hepatitis C, you should:

  • Discontinue alcohol consumption immediately. The combination of alcohol with hepatitis C is particularly dangerous for many patients.
  • Maintain a healthy weight. Obesity can speed the progression of liver scarring.
  • Get vaccinated against hepatitis A and B if you are not already immune, There are currently no vaccines for hepatitis C.

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What About Patients With Hepatitis C Who Also Have Hepatitis B

Hepatitis B virus can flare in patients who are co-infected with hepatitis B and hepatitis C and are taking medication for hepatitis C. This has been reported as a potential risk for patients who are taking hepatitis C treatment and have underlying hepatitis B as well. The flare usually occurs within a few weeks after the patient starts taking medication for hepatitis C. Therefore, patients who have both hepatitis B and hepatitis C should be seen by a hepatitis expertbeforestarting treatment of the hepatitis C they may need to start taking hepatitis B treatment to avoid a hepatitis B flare.

Will The Drugs Be Available By 1 March 2016

The right hepatitis C treatment plan, tailored to you ...

Although the drugs will be available for prescribing through the Pharmaceutical Benefits Scheme, it may be that not all GPs or pharmacists are fully aware of the new treatments by that date. This means there may be some delay in some areas in accessing the drugs from your local GP. However, the Victorian Government is working with doctors, services and hospitals to ensure these delays are minimised as much as possible.

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What Are The Long

75% of people who have Hepatitis C could potentially develop chronic liver disease and liver cancer. Long term liver damage can have many effects on the body, including:

  • Digestion Painful digestion, nausea, vomiting, and loss of appetite
  • Central Nervous System Confusion, forgetfulness, disorientation, shaking, slurred speech, and even a coma
  • Circulatory System Hypertension, internal bleeding, swollen legs and abdomen, anemia, and type 2 diabetes
  • Hair, Skin, and Nails Hair loss, jaundice, and softened yellow fingernails

Is There A Way To Prevent Hepatitis C

Although currently theres no vaccine to protect people from contracting hepatitis C, there are vaccines for other hepatitis viruses, including hepatitis A and hepatitis B.

If you receive a hepatitis C diagnosis, your healthcare provider may advise you to get vaccinated against hepatitis A and B.

The vaccinations are recommended because these hepatitis viruses can lead to additional health and liver complications, especially in those with preexisting liver disease.

Since you cant prevent hepatitis C through a vaccine, the best prevention is to avoid exposure. Hepatitis C is a bloodborne pathogen, so you can limit your chances of exposure through these healthy lifestyle practices:

  • Avoid sharing needles, razor blades, or nail clippers.
  • Use proper safety precautions if youll be exposed to bodily fluids, such as when performing first aid.
  • Hepatitis C isnt usually transmitted through sexual contact, but its possible. Limit your exposure by practicing sex with a condom or other barrier method. Its also important to openly communicate with sexual partners and to get tested if you suspect youve been exposed to the hepatitis C virus.

Because hepatitis C is transmitted through blood, its possible to contract it through a blood transfusion.

However, since the early 1990s, blood product screening tests have been standard protocol for minimizing the risk of this type of transmission.

Subsequent testing is based on risk. Talk to your doctor about your needs.

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Who Should Get Tested

You should consider getting tested for hepatitis C if you’re worried you could have been infected or you fall into one of the groups at an increased risk of being infected.

  • Hepatitis C often has no symptoms, so you may still be infected if you feel healthy.
  • The following groups of people are at an increased risk of hepatitis C:
  • ex-drug users and current drug users, particularly users of injected drugs
  • people who received blood transfusions before September 1991
  • recipients of organ or tissue transplants before 1992
  • people who have lived or had medical treatment in an area where hepatitis C is common high risk areas include North Africa, the Middle East and Central and East Asia
  • babies and children whose mothers have hepatitis C
  • anyone accidentally exposed to the virus, such as health workers
  • people who have received a tattoo or piercing where equipment may not have been properly sterilised
  • sexual partners of people with hepatitis C

If you continue to engage in high-risk activities, such as injecting drugs frequently, regular testing may be recommended. Your doctor will be able to advise you about this.

How Long Does It Take To Cure Hepatitis C

Ask the Expert: Hepatitis C cure

Depending on the drug combination, the specific genotype of hepatitis C that is to be treated, any prior treatment, and whether the person has cirrhosis, the duration of medical therapy may be as few as 8 weeks, or up to 24 weeks. Most regimens are for 12 consecutive weeks. This is much shorter than the interferon-based treatments years ago that lasted up to 48 weeks. Generally, a person is not considered “cured” until the “RNA viral load” is undetectable for 24 weeks after therapy is stopped. This is called “sustained virologic response” or SVR.

The presence of cirrhosis or liver fibrosis is determined by liver biopsy, noninvasive fibrosis scans, or formulas that estimate liver fibrosis based on blood tests, such as AST-to-platelet Ratio Index or Fibrosis-4 Index.3

A very important aspect of treatment is the elimination of all alcohol consumption. Alcohol adds fuel to the fire when it comes to chronic hepatitis. Drinking alcohol greatly worsens liver fibrosis and speeds progression to cirrhosis, and there is no “safe” amount to drink for someone with chronic hepatitis. Drinking alcohol also makes it harder for the medications to be effective and may interfere with proper dosing.

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Prevention Is The Best Medicine

Even though hepatitis C rarely spreads within a household, if you or a family member have the disease, it’s wise to take precautions to prevent its spread especially if anyone in your home is immune compromised, or has cuts or open sores that increase the risk of infection.

In general, use these common sense preventive tips:

  • Unless you are in a long-term, monogamous relationship, practice safe sex.
  • Clean up spilled or dried blood with a bleach-based cleaning solution and wear rubber gloves.
  • Do not share razors.
  • Do not share toothbrushes. “Though hepatitis C is not transmitted through saliva, there might be blood on the toothbrush,” Reau says.

Note that hepatitis C is not transmitted by sharing eating utensils, hugging, kissing, coughing or sneezing.

Causes Of Hepatitis C

You can become infected with hepatitis C if you come into contact with the blood of an infected person.

Other bodily fluids can also contain the virus, but blood contains the highest level of it. Just a small trace of blood can cause an infection. At room temperature, it’s thought the virus may be able survive outside the body in patches of dried blood on surfaces for up to several weeks.

The main ways you can become infected with the hepatitis C virus are described below.

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What Are The Side Effects Of Treatment

Some people stop therapy because of side effects. Since hepatitis C can lead to liver damage, cirrhosis, and liver cancer if not treated, its vital to stick with a treatment plan.

Newer drugs have fewer severe side effects than pegylated interferon and ribavirin. Nevertheless, you may feel some effects while taking hepatitis C medication. Side effects can include:

  • nausea, vomiting, or diarrhea
  • appetite loss or weight loss

Serious side effects can occur with pegylated interferon and ribavirin treatment. If youre taking these medications, you should be monitored for these serious side effects:

  • anemia
  • thrombocytopenia
  • light sensitivity in the eyes
  • trouble breathing because of lung tissue inflammation
  • suicidal thoughts, depression, or irritability
  • thyroid disease
  • elevated liver enzymes
  • autoimmune disease flares

Some medications arent recommended if theres evidence of liver damage, like cirrhosis . A co-infection with HIV also affects medication options.

A Pricey Drug And New Generics

Hepatitis C and Treatment Barriers

The first combo pill with two drugs that inhibits different steps in hepatitis C replication was approved by the FDA in 2014. This pill is taken once a day for 8-12 weeks, has little to no side effects and improved the cure rate to 90-95%. It was hailed as a magical cure, but it came with a price tag of US$94,500 for a 12-week course of treatment. That led many insurers in the United States and national health departments in other countries to limit access to treatment.

Since then, several othercombo pills withsimilar cure rates that are equally well-tolerated have become available, and the cost has markedly decreased. In addition, low-cost generics and special pricing arrangements are available in many resource-limited countries.

While the current price of hepatitis C virus drugs is still very high, one needs to remember that for 95 percent of patients, this is a cure. It is unlike medicines for many illnesses that need to be taken for a long time, sometimes for the rest of the patients lives. Indeed, a cure for hepatitis C virus has allowed some patients who were on the liver transplant waiting list to reverse their liver failure, making transplantation unnecessary. This is good news not only for these patients but also for others on the waiting list.

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What If I Am Pregnant Or Planning A Pregnancy

  • Treatment is generally not recommended during pregnancy. There is not a lot of information on the effects of treatment during pregnancy. Research is being done on hepatitis C treatment during pregnancy so this may change in the future.
  • Treatment that includes ribavirin can cause severe birth defects and must not be taken during pregnancy. Ribavirin should not be used by either partner for at least six months before trying to get pregnant.
  • Use birth control if you are having sex that can lead to pregnancy.
  • Talk to a nurse or doctor about your treatment options and when to start treatment.

What Are Genotypes And Do They Matter

Six different genotypes of hepatitis C have been identified. Genotypes 1 and 3 are the most common causes of hepatitis C in Australia and make up 90 per cent of all cases. They are important because they help determine the treatment you need. Unlike in the past, however, your genotype is not important in terms of the chance of cure. With the treatment drugs, all six genotypes have a very high chance of cure.

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