Viral hepatitis in practice - 2011

July 2011, Volume 3 Number 2

February 2011, Volume 3 Number 1

Tailoring response-based treatment for hepatitis C
Antonia Ho and Ray Fox
pp 1-5
The recommended treatment for chronic infection with hepatitis C virus (HCV) is a combination of pegylated interferon (pegIFN) alfa and ribavirin (RBV). Treatment duration is determined by HCV genotype: in genotype 1 (G1) infection, treatment usually lasts for 48 weeks, whereas in genotypes 2 and 3 (G2, G3), therapy for 24 weeks has been found to have equivalent efficacy.

Comment: A lesson from viral kinetics
Alastair Miller
pp 3-3
A few years ago, the treatment of chronic hepatitis C virus (HCV) infection seemed to be largely ‘sorted’. Although cure rates were suboptimal, treatment was mainly protocol-driven and managed in large, nurse-led interferon clinics. Patients with genotype 1 HCV received 48 weeks of pegylated interferon (pegIFN) and weightbased ribavirin (RBV), while those infected with genotype 2 or genotype 3 received 24 weeks of pegIFN and flat-dose RBV.

Identifying cases of chronic viral hepatitis: outreach in practice
Heather Lewis, Graham Foster and Katharine Burke
pp 6-7
Chronic viral hepatitis (CVH) caused by hepatitis B or C is a global health concern, with an estimated 350 million people worldwide chronically infected with the hepatitis B virus (HBV), and 170 million infected with the hepatitis C virus (HCV).

Modern management of HIV and hepatitis C virus co-infection
Alastair Miller
pp 8-10
The use of highly active antiretroviral therapy (HAART) for the treatment of HIV infection since 1996 has dramatically reduced AIDS-related morbidity and mortality. This has allowed chronic liver disease to emerge as a leading cause of death among HIV-infected patients; much of that liver disease relates to chronic coinfection with hepatitis viruses (either hepatitis B virus [HBV] or hepatitis C virus [HCV]).