Viral hepatitis in practice - 2014


How do we find those who need hepatitis C treatment? The case for improved case finding
Ankur Srivastava, Sudeep Tanwar, Grainne Nixon, Karen Sennett, Sarah Morgan and William Rosenberg
pp 1-6
Case identification and treatment of chronic hepatitis C (CHC) is a public health priority in England. In the UK, over 200,000 individuals aged 15–59 – that is, 0.69% of the total adult population – are chronically infected with hepatitis C virus (HCV). Among certain groups, the incidence is markedly higher; for example, 49% of people who inject drugs are reported to have antibodies to HCV indicating prior HCV infection, treated disease or active disease.
Comment: Managing chronic viral hepatitis requires a real team effort
Alastair Miller
pp 3-3
Some years ago I was giving a talk on chronic viral hepatitis and reflected on the slightly different views of this condition held by different disciplines. I commented that hepatologists and gastroenterologists viewed it as ‘just another liver disease that happens to be caused by a virus’, whereas infectious disease physicians and virologists looked at it as ‘another chronic viral infection that just happens to affect the liver’.
What has HCV Research UK achieved so far?
William Irving and John McLauchlan
pp 7-7
Some years ago, a group of UK scientists and clinicians working on hepatitis C virus recognised the potential benefits of establishing links between basic and clinical research. They agreed to establish, by the end of 2014, a national cohort of 10,000 patients from whom long-term clinical outcome data would be collected in a systematic way, and to create a biorepository of clinical samples – serum, plasma, DNA, liver biopsy – from those patients.
Hepatitis E: diagnostic techniques and clinical manifestations
Sven Pischke and Martina Sterneck
pp 8-11
Hepatitis E is an inflammatory infection of the liver caused by the hepatitis E virus. This single-stranded RNA virus causes outbreaks in tropical developing countries and sporadic cases of infection in industrialised countries; the latter can either be imported or locally acquired (autochthonous).
Managing a patient who relapses after sofosbuvir treatment
Vikram Sharma and Rachel H Westbrook
pp 12-13
Chronic infection with hepatitis C virus (HCV) is the leading cause of end-stage liver disease (ESLD), hepatocellular carcinoma and liver-related death in the Western world. In patients with HCV-related ESLD, liver transplantation is the only potentially lifesaving treatment. In those who achieve a sustained virological response (SVR) before transplantation, hepatitis C does not recur post-transplantation and outcomes are comparable to, or even better than in, patients transplanted for other indications. In those who are HCV RNA-positive at the time of transplantation, HCV infection of the graft is universal.
Hepatitis B monotherapy with tenofovir or entecavir: a single-centre experience in the UK
Shahid Shabbir, Sara Stevenson, Lee C Claridge, Phaedra M Tachtatzis, Mervyn H Davies, Rebecca L Jones and Mark A Aldersley
pp 14-15
Hepatitis B has a high prevalence worldwide: currently, more than 370 million people have chronic hepatitis B. More than 95% of adults infected with hepatitis B virus (HBV) will recover completely, but the others will develop chronic disease. Persistent viral replication is associated with serious complications including cirrhosis, decompensation, acute liver failure and hepatocellular carcinoma. The number of deaths due to the consequences of HBV infection is about 1 million per year.

Viral hepatitis in practice was previously supported by Gilead Sciences from 2015 to 2016, by Gilead Sciences and Janssen in 2014, by Gilead Sciences and Roche Products in 2013 and by Gilead Sciences from 2009 to 2012.


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ISSN 2041-1162 (Print)  ISSN 2045-7863 (Online)

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