By: KARI OAKES, GI & Hepatology News Digital Network
JANUARY 7, 2016
A research team led by Jeffrey Townsend, Ph.D., of Yale School of Public Health, New Haven, Conn., said that new direct-acting antivirals (DAAs) alone could reduce the prevalence of hepatitis C virus (HCV) by 80% by the year 2040. When near-universal screening and enhanced treatment capacity are added to the equation, HCV could be eliminated in the United States, though cost and reimbursement issues may impede implementation.
“The key finding is that a fourfold increase to the number of patients treated each year could virtually eliminate HCV from the noninjecting population within a decade,” said Dr. Townsend, senior author of the study, in a statement accompanying the study [Clin Infect Dis. 2015. doi: 10.1093/cid/civ894].
No comments:
Post a Comment