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Interferon and Ribavirin Effective in HCV-Infected Hemophiliacs
Prior to the ability to detect hepatitis C virus (HCV) infection, when it was known simply as non-A, non-B hepatitis, many patients with coagulation disorders were infected due to contamination of the blood supply. Currently, intravenous drug users and patients with inherited disorders of coagulation have the highest prevalence rates of HCV among known risk groups. Full Story   10/30/02

Treatment Duration May Affect Response Rates in Interferon-Treatment Relapsers
Although hepatitis C is currently treated with combination therapy (standard interferon (IFN) or pegylated (PEG)-INF plus ribavirin), there still exists a large population of hepatitis C positive patients who were treated with IFN monotherapy and who have since had a relapse of the disease. Full Story   10/28/02

Alternative to Liver Biopsy Explored in HCV-Infected Patients
A significant percentage of the population in the world is infected with hepatitis C virus (HCV) infection. HCV is a leading cause of liver transplantation and causes significant morbidity and mortality in infected patients. In fact, in some populations of patients, in particular those who are HIV-infected, HCV is one of the leading causes of death. Full Story   10/28/02

Cambodian Leader Says AIDS More Deadly Than Land Mines
Prime Minister Hun Sen said Wednesday that AIDS is Cambodia's most dangerous scourge - deadlier than the millions of land mines that still dot the countryside after decades of war. Full Story   10/28/02

Former New Jersey Inmate Sues State Over Lack of Treatment for Hepatitis C
A former New Jersey prison inmate on Wednesday filed a lawsuit charging the New Jersey Department of Corrections and its health provider, Correctional Medical Services, with medical malpractice for allegedly withholding treatment from inmates with hepatitis C because of the cost, the Philadelphia Inquirer reports. Full Story   10/21/02

HCV-Infected Patients with Normal ALT May Benefit from Liver Biopsy
Infection with hepatitis C virus (HCV) infection can lead to progressive liver disease, and this is associated with high rates of morbidity and mortality. To this point, the assessment of a patient's risk for progressive liver disease, and the need for HCV treatment, has usually involved a liver biopsy since this is considered the most reliable test for assessing the severity of liver disease. Full Story   10/21/02

FDA Approves Pegasys (peginterferon alfa-2a) for Treatment of Chronic Hepatitis C
Roche announced on Wednesday (10/16/02) that the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has approved Pegasys (peginterferon alfa-2a) for the treatment of adults with chronic hepatitis C who have compensated liver disease and have not previously been treated with interferon alfa. Full Story   10/16/02

FDA to Hold Public Hearing on Roche Approval Application for Pegasys Plus Ribavirin as Combination Therapy for Chronic Hepatitis C
The US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) on November 14, 2002 will hold an open (public) meeting of its Antiviral Drugs Advisory Committee to discuss the new drug application (NDA) of peginterferon alfa-2a (Pegasys) co-packaged with ribavirin (Copegus) as combination therapy for the treatment of chronic hepatitis C. Full Story   10/14/02

NEJM Publishes Results of Trial Comparing Pegasys Plus Ribavirin to Rebetron for Chronic Hepatitis C
The double combination of Pegasys (pegylated interferon alfa-2a) plus ribavirin provides a considerable clinical advantage over Rebetron (standard interferon alfa-2b plus ribavirin*) for the treatment of chronic hepatitis C, according to results of a study published today (9/26/02) in the New England Journal of Medicine (NEJM). Full Story   09/27/02

One in Ten Veterans in New York City Area Infected with HCV
The prevalence of hepatitis C virus (HCV) infection among military veterans in the New York City metropolitan area is 10.6%, much higher than the 1.8% rate reported in the general US population, according to a recent report. Full Story   09/20/02

Disclosure of HCV Status Does Not Change Risk Behavior among Young Injection Drug Users (IDUs)
Epidemiological surveys estimate the prevalence rate of Hepatitis C Virus (HCV) infection amongst injection drug users (IDUs) is approximately 65-90% and that injection drug use accounts for >60% of all HCV infections. Full Story   09/20/02

Nurse at Oklahoma Hospital Reused Needles on Patients
Six people contracted hepatitis at an Oklahoma hospital and about 350 other patients were undergoing tests after a nurse at the facility reused hypodermic needles, a hospital spokesman said on Wednesday. Full Story   09/13/02

Tattooing Is a Major Route of Hepatitis C Infection, Says Researcher
Getting a tattoo could be a key infection route for hepatitis C, the most common chronic viral infection affecting almost 2 percent of the United States population, according to a study by a UT Southwestern Medical Center at Dallas researcher. Full Story   09/09/02

NIH Issues Final Version of Consensus Guidelines for the Management of Hepatitis C
The National Institutes of Health (NIH) sponsored a Consensus Conference on the management of hepatitis C infection June 10-12, 2002 in Bethesda, MD. Preliminary guidelines formulated by the expert panel were published in late June 2002. Now the NIH has published the final draft of those guidelines, which contain significant revisions and additions to the text. Full Story   09/04/02

Ribapharm Sues to Block Roche Rival Ribavirin Drug
Ribapharm Inc. on Monday said it had filed a lawsuit to prevent Swiss drug maker Roche Holding Ltd. from selling a hepatitis C treatment in the United States that would compete with Ribapharm's pill ribavirin. Full Story   08/30/02

Hepatitis C May Cause Erectile Dysfunction
Infection with the hepatitis C virus may increase the risk of erectile dysfunction, the results of a new study suggest. Full Story   08/30/02

HCV Genotype May Influence Immune Response
It is estimated that as many as 170 million persons worldwide are infected with hepatitis C virus (HCV). HCV infection is also common in patients with HIV infection. The improving survival of HIV-infected persons brought about by highly active antiretroviral therapy (HAART), and the data which suggest that HIV hastens progression of HCV and vice versa, have made the treatment of HCV a pressing issue in HIV/HCV coinfected patients. Full Story   08/14/02

HCV RNA Level May Predict Risk of Progression to AIDS and Mortality
In patients who are coinfected with HIV and hepatitis C virus (HCV), studies have indicated that HIV increases HCV viral load and accelerates progression of liver disease and that HCV increases the risk of morbidity and mortality from HIV and limits immune recovery with highly active antiretroviral therapy (HAART). The importance of this interaction is reflected in the finding, in a number of diverse cohorts, that in the HAART era, liver disease is the most common cause of death in HIV/HCV coinfected patients. Full Story   08/14/02

Study Results Suggest Sexual Transmission of HCV Is a Reality
The true incidence of hepatitis C virus (HCV) infection in the HIV positive population remains unclear. In those individuals who have been infected with HIV via intravenous drug use rates of HCV infection are as high as 90%. However, there is a significant increase in the incidence of HCV in individuals who have been infected with HIV from either homosexual or heterosexual sex. Full Story   08/02/02

Vertical Transmission of HCV Increases if the Mother Is HIV/HCV Co-Infected
Just as with HIV, Mothers infected with hepatitis C virus (HCV) may transmit this virus to their infants. Several studies have indicated that this risk of transmission of HCV is increased in HIV/HCV co-infected mothers, although the mechanism remains uncertain. Several studies presented at the XIV International AIDS Conference support this conclusion. Full Story   08/02/02

Hepatitis C Linked to Type of Lymphoma
The liver infection hepatitis C (HCV) may contribute to a slowly progressing form of the cancer lymphoma--and treating the hepatitis can cause the cancer to regress, French researchers report. Full Story   07/29/02

Schering’s PEG-Intron/Ribavirin Sales Double to $659 Million, but Overall Company’s Profits Are Flat
Schering-Plough Corporation on 7/26/02 said second-quarter earnings were little changed from a year earlier, as manufacturing problems and slowing sales of the allergy drug Claritin offset growth in its hepatitis C treatments. Full Story   07/29/02

Roche Wins FDA Fast-Track Review for Pegasys Plus Copegus for Treatment of Chronic Hepatitis C
Hoffmann-La Roche (Roche) announced on 7/15/02 that the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has granted "fast-track" (priority) review status to its drug Pegasys (peginterferon alfa-2a) in combination with Copegus (ribavirin), for the treatment of chronic hepatitis C. The FDA grants priority designation to biologics and drugs for unmet medical needs, and which offer a significant improvement in the safety or effectiveness of the treatment, diagnosis or prevention of a serious or life-threatening disease. Full Story   07/17/02

HIV-Protective CCR5 Mutation Tied to Higher Hepatitis C Viral Loads
The 32-base pair deletion in the gene for chemokine receptor 5 (CCR5-delta 32) that protects against HIV infection appears to be an adverse host factor in patients with chronic hepatitis C, according to a report published in the June issue of Gastroenterology. Full Story   07/17/02

Medical Panel Issues Conclusions and Recommendations in Report on Management of Hepatitis C
The following text of the conclusions and final recommendations of the consensus report on hepatitis C is an excerpt from the NIH conference on hepatitis C held in Bethesda, Maryland, June 10-12, 2002. Full Story   06/28/02

Does Hepatitis C Virus (HCV) Infection Cause Severe Liver Disease Only in People Who Drink Alcohol?
Lancet Infectious Diseases published in May 2002 an interesting article on the relationship of alcohol and hepatitis C by Professors Vento and Cainelli, Department of Pathology, University of Verona, Verona, Italy. The article focuses on the primary role of alcohol in HCV disease progression, cirrhosis and hepatitis C-related cancer. Following is a summary of their article. Full Story   06/28/02

Important Areas for Future Research in Hepatitis C
The following text on areas of future research for hepatitis C is an excerpt from the consensus report on the NIH conference on hepatitis C held in Bethesda, Maryland, June 10-12, 2002. Full Story   06/26/02

What Can HCV Positive Patients Do to Prevent Transmission of the Virus?
The following text on what HCV positive patients can do to prevent transmission of the virus is an excerpt from the NIH consensus report on hepatitis C held in Bethesda, Maryland, June 10-12, 2002. Full Story   06/21/02

European Union Approves New Roche HCV Drug Pegasys
Roche Laboratories (Roche) announced today that the European Union's drug regulatory agency has granted final marketing approval to Pegasys (peginterferon alfa-2a) for the treatment of hepatitis C. Pegasys is Roche's major drug launch in 2002, and the company hopes to win marketing approval from the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) by the end of this year. Full Story   06/21/02

Effective Therapy for Different HCV Patient Groups
The following text on therapy for patients with hepatitis C infection is an excerpt from the new NIH consensus report on hepatitis C held in Bethesda, Maryland, June 10-12, 2002. The consensus report covers a broad spectrum of issues related to the disease. Full Story   06/21/02

Diagnosis and Monitoring of Patients with Hepatitis C Infection
The following text on the diagnosis and monitoring of patients with hepatitis C infection is an excerpt from the new NIH consensus report on hepatitis C held in Bethesda, Maryland, June 10-12, 2002. The consensus report covers a broad spectrum of issues related to the disease. Full Story   06/19/02

The Natural History of Hepatitis C
The following text on the natural history of hepatitis C is excerpted from the new NIH consensus report on hepatitis C held in Bethesda, Maryland, June 10-12, 2002. The consensus report covers a broad spectrum of issues related to the disease. Full Story   06/17/02

NIH Issues New Consensus Guidelines on Hepatitis C
Approximately four million Americans are infected with hepatitis C, which is the leading cause of liver disease in the United States and the most common cause of cirrhosis and hepatocellular carcinoma. Hepatitis C virus (HCV) infection is also the most common reason for liver transplantation in the US. Full Story   06/12/02

Federal Panel Recommends Expanding HCV Therapy to Include More Infected Drug Users, Children and HIV Patients
Drug users, children and AIDS patients should not be excluded from treatment for hepatitis C, the federal advisory panel on Hepatitis C said on 6/12/02. Full Story   06/14/02

Successful HCV Treatment Reduces Risk of Fatigue and Cryoglobulinemia
There are many extrahepatic manifestations associated with hepatitis C virus (HCV) infection including fatigue, essential mixed cryoglobulinemia, porphyria cutanea tarda, membranous glomerulonephritis, sicca syndrome, and thyroiditis. Full Story   06/10/02

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