Welcome to HCV Advocate’s hepatitis blog. The intent of this blog is to keep our website audience up-to-date on information about hepatitis and to answer some of our web site and training audience questions. People are encouraged to submit questions and post comments.

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Alan Franciscus

Editor-in-Chief

HCV Advocate



Monday, May 4, 2015

Mid-Mo Health Expo offers free health screenings

COLUMBIA — When the Missouri Hepatitis C Alliance held the inaugural Mid-Mo Health Expo last year at the Parkade Center, organizers envisioned a small health education fair for the community.

But when word got out that Boone Hospital Center was providing free health screenings, dozens came out to take advantage of the offer.

Sixty-seven participants received more than 300 screenings, said Aaron Boone, a development manager for the Missouri Hepatitis C Alliance.

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Friday, May 1, 2015

Joint Pain a Major Issue in Chronic HCV Infection

Smoking increases risk of arthralgias in hepatitis C.

Patient-reported joint pain is prevalent in those with chronic monoinfection with hepatitis C virus (HCV) or monoinfection with immunodeficiency virus (HIV), as well as in patients with HIV/HCV coinfection, according to a study published online in BMC Musculoskeletal Disorders on April 19, 2015. But chronic HCV patients report more arthralgia.

The study, led by Alexis R. Ogdie, MD, a rheumatologist at the University of Pennsylvania in Philadelphia, found that chronically HCV-monoinfected patients more frequently reported arthralgias compared with HIV/HCV-coinfected or HIV-monoinfected persons.

Joint pain was more commonly reported in HCV-monoinfected than HIV/HCV-coinfected (71% versus 56%; P=0.038) and HIV-monoinfected patients (71% versus 50%; P=0.035).

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Implementing the Nation’s First State Hepatitis C Testing Law

As the first state hepatitis C testing law in the nation progresses into its second year of implementation, the New York State Department of Health (NYSDOH) is taking steps to educate both healthcare providers and consumers about the importance of HCV screening for individuals born between 1945 and 1965 (often referred to as the “Baby Boomers”) and New York’s related law requiring that healthcare providers offer a one-time HCV screening to patients in this birth cohort as part of routine primary care. Here is an overview of the activities that the NYSDOH has been engaged in to implement and evaluate the new law.

The Law

The NYS Hepatitis C Testing Law was signed into law by the governor on October 23, 2013 and implemented effective January 1, 2014.  This new law mirrors the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s (CDC) 2012 expanded hepatitis C virus (HCV) screening recommendations, requiring healthcare providers in the state to offer a one-time HCV screening test to all persons born between 1945 and 1965, and is similar to the 2010 NYS HIV Testing Law .  The law was enacted to increase HCV testing and ensure timely diagnosis and linkage to care.

The two key provisions of the NYS Hepatitis C Testing Law  are:

- See more at: https://blog.aids.gov/2015/05/implementing-the-nations-first-state-hepatitis-c-testing-law.html#sthash.LmYhdAYZ.dpuf

A physician's lesson on hepatitis C

One of a physician’s responsibilities is to stay in tune with the new updates in medicine. A few years ago, I attended a class about hepatitis C. We have made some great advances in the treatment for hepatitis C, but we need to find those who have the infection first.

In this class, the instructor said that patients with hepatitis C may present without symptoms and have a slightly-elevated liver function test on some occasions, then return to normal. Obviously, this makes hepatitis C very elusive and easy to miss. Here is my lesson on hepatitis C.

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Man Gets Free Hep C Treatment

ALTOONA - A large drug company is now giving free medicine to a local man, denied treatment for a deadly disease. Mike Miller, from Bedford County, is  one of more than 100 patients in our region and millions in the United States with hepatitis C, a virus that leads to cirrhosis and liver cancer.

A few weeks ago, nurse Karen Brandt held up a stack of insurance company denials she received for Mike Miller , alone.

"I was dealing with so many shutdowns every time we tried to get hepatitis C medicine authorized and I started to think this is crazy I need to do something," she says.

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Register Today for Webinar on Hepatitis C and African American Women

In recognition of both National Women’s Health Week and Hepatitis Awareness Month, the HHS Offices on Women’s Health, Minority Health, and HIV/AIDS and Infectious Disease Policy are co-sponsoring a webinar, Hepatitis C and African American Women, on Thursday, May 7, 2015 – 1:30-2:45 PM (ET).

Because of disproportionate rates of hepatitis C virus infection, African Americans are among the populations prioritized by the Action Plan for the Prevention, Care and Treatment of Viral Hepatitis (Action Plan), which outlines steps to educate communities about the benefits of viral hepatitis prevention, care, and treatment as well as actions to enhance healthcare provider knowledge about the populations most heavily impacted. The national Action Plan underscores the importance of the participation and engagement of partners from many sectors beyond the federal government in order to achieve the plan’s life-saving goals, especially those related to addressing health disparities like improving outcomes for African Americans living with hepatitis C.

Webinar presenters will discuss how women may be affected by hepatitis C, challenges and strategies to improve testing and access to care, and what steps individuals and health care providers can take to address hepatitis C among women in the African American community.

Register for the webinar today ! 
Presenters will include:
  • Hope King  [ PDF 92.2 KB], PhD, MSPH, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, National Center for HIV/AIDS, Viral Hepatitis, STD, and TB Prevention, Atlanta
  • Camilla Graham  [ PDF 92.2 KB]MD, MPH, Viral Hepatitis Center, Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center, Boston
  • Gloria Searson  [ PDF 92.2 KB], ACSW, Coalition on Positive Health Empowerment, New York City
The webinar will also highlight:
  • Key hepatitis C data including the health disparities among African Americans,
  • Recent hepatitis C treatment advances,
  • Why African American women should know about hepatitis C, and
  • Resources available to help increase awareness and learn more about hepatitis C.
We hope you can join us and be a part of this important conversation and then help share this information with others. 

- See more at: https://blog.aids.gov/2015/05/register-today-for-webinar-on-hepatitis-c-and-african-american-women.html#sthash.kNhhtwoY.dpuf

Hepatitis C, HIV hits American Indians at high rate in Minnesota

DULUTH, Minn. — The rate of hepatitis C among American Indians in Minnesota is “terrifyingly higher” than for other racial and ethnic groups, a state epidemiologist said on Thursday. The occasion was the Health Department’s annual release of data for HIV/AIDS and hepatitis A, B and C in Minnesota.

The chronic liver disease — a virus that’s often abbreviated as HCV — also is seen at a relatively high rate outside of the Twin Cities metro area, said Kristin Sweet of the Minnesota Department of Health.

“A lot of people think hepatitis C is an urban issue,” Sweet said. “Our data do not hold to that.”

Read more....