Baby Boomers Have High Incidence Of Hepatitis C Virus: What Does This Mean, Boomer?

Approximately one in thirty individuals born from 1945-1965 screen positive for Hepatitis C. Another way of looking at it shows that over 75% of those with Hepatatis C are baby boomers. Routine screening of blood products used for transfusion to eliminate transmission of Hepatitis C began in 1992.

 Most Adults Should be Screened for Hepatitis C, New U.S. Guidelines Urge

The opioid crisis and an increase in illicit drug use have fueled a resurgence of hepatitis C, a viral infection of the liver.

 The Battle to Get Expensive Hep C Treatment in Prisons

The disease is common in prison populations but states face a catch-22: spend their entire medical budgets on newer drugs or use cheaper treatments that are less effective.

 The VA Will Eliminate Hepatitis C In Veterans By Year-End

This is a great story. Thanks to the VA’s commitment as well as the innovation on the part the manufacturers, a major health issue for our veterans will be eliminated.

Harvoni Takes the Sting Out of Hepatitis C Treatment

For the first time, hepatitis C can be cured without interferon and ribavirin, which can cause fatigue and depression.

Hepatitis C Medications

The goal of HCV treatment is to cure the virus, which can be done with a combination of drugs. The specific meds used and the duration of treatment depend on a number of factors, including HCV genotype (genetic structure of the virus), viral load, past treatment experience, degree of liver damage, ability to tolerate the prescribed treatment, and whether the person is waiting for a liver transplant or is a transplant recipient. In some cases, HCV treatment may be limited by your health insurance plan or drug formulary.

Information for Healthcare Personnel Potentially Exposed to Hepatitis C Virus (HCV)

After a needlestick or sharps exposure to HCV-positive blood, the risk of HCV infection is approximately 1.8%2 . If the healthcare worker does become infected, follow AASLD/IDSA guidelines (www.hcvguidelines.org) for management and treatment of hepatitis C.

Treat all with hepatitis C, World Health Organization recommends

The World Health Organization says that the safety and effectiveness of newer direct-acting antivirals (DAAs) have shifted the balance of risks and benefits towards recommending treatment for all. Furthermore, growing access to lower-cost DAAs is enabling treatment to be rolled out rapidly in some low- and middle-income countries.

Treatment Options in Hepatitis C

All patients with hepatitis C, whatever their disease stage, can derive a sustained eradication of HCV from a combination of drugs with direct antiviral activity. Viral eradication is associated with a better quality of life and with lower morbidity and mortality.

We Now Have the Cure for Hepatitis C, but Can We Afford It?

A long, difficult and costly research effort gives doctors a new cure for hepatitis C.

Are New Drugs for Hepatitis C Safe? A Report Raises Concerns

Drugs approved in recent years that can cure hepatitis C may have severe side effects, including liver failure, a new report suggests. The number of adverse events appears relatively small, and the findings are not conclusive. But experts said the report was a warning that should not be ignored. It involves nine widely used antiviral drugs that were heralded as a huge advance because they greatly increased cure rates, seemingly with few side effects.

Are New Drugs for Hepatitis C Safe? A Report Raises Concerns

Drugs approved in recent years that can cure hepatitis C may have severe side effects, including liver failure, a new report suggests. The number of adverse events appears relatively small, and the findings are not conclusive. But experts said the report was a warning that should not be ignored. It involves nine widely used antiviral drugs that were heralded as a huge advance because they greatly increased cure rates, seemingly with few side effects.

Curing Hepatitis C, in an Experiment the Size of Egypt 

Six million Egyptians were infected with hepatitis C by unsterile needles during the country’s decades-long fight against schistosomiasis. The virus spread insidiously; today, at least 10 percent of Egyptians, nearly nine million people, are chronically infected, the highest rate in the world.

FDA Warns on Hepatitis C Drugs

The agency is requiring black-box warnings for nine antiviral drugs that can reactivate hepatitis B.

From Retirement To The Front Lines Of Hepatitis C Treatment

When a hepatitis C treatment called Harvoni was released in 2014, Dr. Ronald Cirillo knew it was big. "It's the reason that dragged me out of retirement!" he says.

Global health experts say elimination of hepatitis C in the US is possible: How do we make it happen?

Canzater and Crowley conclude, "Unlike some pressing problems where the scope of need is so large it can be immobilizing, modest new investments can have a significant impact. Boosting the capacity to monitor the HCV epidemic can move the nation toward eliminating HCV as a public health threat in the United States."

Hepatitis Country: Inside America's Hep C Epidemic

According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), an estimated 3.5 million people in the United States are living with chronic hepatitis C infection, and most are unaware that they are infected.

I Got Hepatitis C and Lost My Friends

It felt as if I had been propelled onto another planet, a desolate place with no landmarks.

More Prison Inmates Get Access to Hepatitis-C Drugs

Public-health experts say inmates have a higher hepatitis C-infection rate than the general population because many have a history of drug injection, a common route of transmission for the blood-borne virus. The infection can damage the liver and become life-threatening if left untreated.

New Hepatitis C Drug Gets Helping Hand

The largest manager of U.S. prescription-drug benefits is taking sides in a fight between new hepatitis C treatments that cost close to $100,000 per patient. Express Scripts Holding Co. will make an AbbVie Inc. drug the exclusive option for patients with the most common form of hepatitis C. The move will help the drug maker take market share from Gilead Sciences Inc., which makes the blockbuster Sovaldi, but is likely to be controversial for limiting doctors’ and patients’ treatment choices.

Resolved For 2015: No More Hepatitis C

I'll spell out the vows that I believe all the key stakeholders in the fight against hepatitis C should follow in the year ahead.

This Disease Is A Top Killer And Now States Must Pay For Its Costly Treatment

The antiviral drugs have since become cheaper, but judicial decisions and settlements have consistently found that states cannot deny treatment because of cost in any case.

We have a cure for hepatitis C. But the neediest can’t afford it. Louisiana wants to change that

Beginning in 2014, several medications that cure hepatitis C within weeks of therapy became available, revolutionizing care for infected individuals. The catch was the price tag.

While Washington Tackles Opioid Abuse Epidemic, Hepatitis C Treatment Remains Unaffordable

If Washington wants to do something about the public health issues left behind by the opioid abuse epidemic, it might have to start doing something about prescription-drug costs.

Why Hepatitis C Still Kills 16,000 Americans Per Year, and What We Can Do About It

Many patients infected with hepatitis C have no symptoms -- the virus attacks with insidious stealth -- and thus no cause to suspect they are infected, much less take action. You can look and feel absolutely healthy, even as serious liver damage worsens. All too often, as a result, this hidden disease remains long undetected, sometimes for decades.