“For decades, many Americans with hepatitis C have struggled to get tested or died waiting for a cure that remained inaccessibly expensive within the nation’s fractured health care system. President Joe Biden’s new proposed budget to Congress seeks to change that with a $5 billion plan to end hepatitis C nationwide by 2030.”
To read more details on the budget proposal click here and here.
Screening and Testing for Hepatitis B Virus Infection: CDC Recommendations — United States, 2023
“New recommendations include hepatitis B screening using three laboratory tests at least once during a lifetime for adults aged ≥18 years. The report also expands risk-based testing recommendations to include the following populations, activities, exposures, or conditions associated with increased risk for HBV infection: persons incarcerated or formerly incarcerated in a jail, prison, or other detention setting; persons with a history of sexually transmitted infections or multiple sex partners; and persons with a history of hepatitis C virus infection. In addition, to provide increased access to testing, anyone who requests HBV testing should receive it, regardless of disclosure of risk, because many persons might be reluctant to disclose stigmatizing risks.”
New CDC Universal Screening Recommendations will save lives, Hepatitis B Foundation president says
““The Hepatitis B Foundation is grateful for the advocacy work on this issue by our Hep B United Coalition partners, the many individual advocates nationwide who have been engaged on this issue and the Congressional Hepatitis Caucus, which has been very supportive over the years of hepatitis B initiatives and decreasing HBV-related disparities,” Dr. Cohen said.”
Consensus recommendations on the management of hepatitis C in Australia’s prisons
“Australia has set the goal of eliminating hepatitis C as a public health threat by 2030, in line with World Health Organization targets. Most Australians living with hepatitis C virus (HCV) have acquired their infection through injecting drug use. However, people who inject drugs are often marginalised and experience high levels of stigma and other barriers to engagement with health care. Therefore, a major challenge to Australia achieving its hepatitis C elimination goals is to increase health service engagement and HCV testing and treatment in this underserved population.”
Four Weeks May Be Too Short for Treatment of Recent Hepatitis C
“A shorter four-week course of Mavyret (glecaprevir/pibrentasvir) for people with recent hepatitis C virus (HCV) infection led to a lower cure rate than treatment for six weeks or longer, according to study results presented at the 30th Conference on Retroviruses and Opportunistic Infections.”
Direct-Acting Antivirals, an Effective Treatment for HCV
“Treating patients with chronic hepatitis C virus (HCV) with direct-acting antivirals (DAAs) is associated with improved liver and non-liver outcomes, as well as overall survival rates, according to data from a large retrospective cohort study. The study included data from 245,596 patients with HCV from 2010 through 2021, drawn from a database of about 60 million people with private insurance in the United States (JAMA Intern Med 2023;183[2]:97-105).”
Arizona hospital uses Meditech tool to fight hepatitis C outbreak
“Kingman (Ariz.) Regional Medical Center is using Meditech to create patient registries for monitoring patients in a hepatitis C treatment program. Mohave County, Ariz., is among the top 5 percent of counties nationwide considered to be susceptible to a hepatitis C outbreak. The health system created a disease management clinic and tapped the Meditech tool for the clinic, according to a March 9 Meditech news release. Since starting the program, the lab has screened 164.5 patients per month, with a 6.5 percent positivity rate.”
This Colorado woman donated part of her liver to a stranger. Now, she’s trying to get others to do it, too
“No one likes to undergo surgery — let alone a major one — so Rachel Davis worried people might think she was a bit strange when they found out she planned to donate part of her liver to a stranger.”
