The cost of curing hepatitis C

Eradicating hepatitis C
Gilead has said it would like to see the eradication of hepatitis C within 10 to 15 years and with the development of such a cure, experts say it is biologically feasible, at least in theory.

But in practice, many people don’t even know they are infected and more needs to be done to test for the virus and prevent transmission in the first place.

“This is a really historic point in time – any time you make such dramatic leaps in the effectiveness of treatment, it really raises the visibility of the problem,” said WHO’s Wiktor. “But we really need to scale up testing and get the whole health system trained on how to deliver these drugs, how to evaluate patients and how to use these drugs. That’s what we’re trying to work on, but a lot has to happen and it’s not just about reducing the price of the drugs.”

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AIDS Specialist Advocates Sweeping Approach to Battle Against Hepatitis C

Could hepatitis C be the next communicable disease to come under a targeted attack in B.C.?

It will be if HIV/AIDS expert Dr. Julio Montaner has his way.

Montaner said Tuesday that even if the virus is eradicated among baby boomers, that won’t stop its continued spread.

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Dubai-New oral drug can cure hepatitis C

Dubai: In what is being hailed by health practitioners as one of the biggest discoveries in five decades in the field of medicine, an international pharmaceutical company has discovered a powerful antiviral drug to treat the deadly disease hepatitis C that will soon be available in the UAE.

Experts in the medical field reacted with excitement at this breakthrough development. “We are very excited and thrilled by this discovery which has far-reaching implications,” said a senior doctor from a leading hospital group in Dubai. ”The mechanism by which this oral drug eliminates the virus in the affected population could hold the key to similar anti-viral medication to eliminate many viral diseases such as other forms of hepatitis, Ebola and, one day, even HIV.”

Dr Chacko George, specialist in Internal Medicine at RAK Hospital, said: “In the case of hepatitis C, 20-30 per cent of the people recover and about the same percentage get chronic liver disease or become carriers and even suffer from cancer. If there is an antiviral drug that can eliminate the virus in about 97 per cent of the first-timers and 93 per cent of those treated earlier, then it is one of the greatest breakthroughs in the history of treatment of this disease. This would mean that with this treatment, the infected person will be able to maintain an infection-free state or have such weak copies of the virus which won’t be able to replicate. It would mean a tremendous advancement in the treatment of the disease. It is discoveries like these that keep our medical appetite for discoveries alive.”

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Finding strengths—and weaknesses—in hepatitis C's armor

Using a specially selected library of different hepatitis C viruses, a team of researchers led by Johns Hopkins scientists has identified tiny differences in the pathogens' outer shell proteins that underpin their resistance to antibodies. The findings, reported in the January 2015 issue of the Journal of Clinical Investigation, suggest a reason why some patients' immune systems can't fend off hepatitis C infections, and they reveal distinct challenges for those trying to craft a successful vaccine to prevent them. Due to concerns about the rising costs of newly available hepatitis C drugs, researchers are looking to a vaccine as a more viable and less costly option.

The systems of some people who become infected with the liver-ravaging hepatitis C virus launch a robust immune attack, producing antibodies that attach to a broad array of the germs with different genetic makeups. About one-third of these individuals successfully clear the pathogen from their bodies. However, says Justin Bailey, M.D., Ph.D., assistant professor of medicine in the Division of Infectious Diseases in the Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, no single antibody has been found that can neutralize all strains of hepatitis C virus.

To better understand how hepatitis C viruses avoid even the most broadly neutralizing antibodies, Bailey; Stuart C. Ray, M.D., professor of medicine in the Division of Infectious Diseases in the Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine; and colleagues tested the power of 18 antibodies known to broadly attack the virus against a library of 19 viral strains that make up about 94 percent of the genetic variability of hepatitis C viruses in the most common genetic group, called genotype 1.

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U.S.A-Programs Focus on Hepatitis C

“Chronic hepatitis C infection is a commonly silent disease that according to the Center of Disease Control affects an estimated 3.2 million Americans”.

 “For primary care providers looking to address hepatitis, the University of Wisconsin-Superior’s Continuing Education Department holds a program 4-9:30 p.m. March 17 at Barker’s Island Inn and Convention Center in Superior”. “The Wisconsin Department of Health Services estimates 74,000 people in Wisconsin are infected; 50 percent of them baby boomers.

The Institute of Medicine reports that up to 75 percent of those infected are unaware they are infected. Yet, with appropriate care, hepatitis C can be a curable infection”.

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