Greetings, here is a quick rewind of news and research you may have missed over the last five days.
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Silent killer: Coming to grips with an emerging epidemic of viral hepatitis
8th September, 2017
Infectious diseases expert and epidemiologist Dr Ben Cowie explains why viral hepatitis is fast becoming a hidden epidemic with significant public health consequences. Most people with chronic hepatitis types B and C aren't even aware they have the diseases as they show no obvious symptoms or signs, yet they risk severe illness or liver damage. So how is the global health community targeting hepatitis, and how to grow awareness in a largely unsuspecting public? Presented by Dr Andi Horvath.
Listen here, or read the transcript.
Hep Fall 2017 - Special Issue
8th September, 2017
Infectious diseases expert and epidemiologist Dr Ben Cowie explains why viral hepatitis is fast becoming a hidden epidemic with significant public health consequences. Most people with chronic hepatitis types B and C aren't even aware they have the diseases as they show no obvious symptoms or signs, yet they risk severe illness or liver damage. So how is the global health community targeting hepatitis, and how to grow awareness in a largely unsuspecting public? Presented by Dr Andi Horvath.
Listen here, or read the transcript.
Hep Fall 2017 - Special Issue
America’s opioid and hepatitis C crises
Begin here
Recommended Reading
Early intervention, testing keys to addressing hepatitis C problem, says CDC scientist
The problem with hepatitis C infections in the U.S. has several fronts: new patients from injection drug users caught up in the opioid crisis, a large population in prison that may not be getting tested and treated and a large number of Baby Boomers, many of whom don’t know they are infected, said a senior scientist with the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
Prepare for A Really Intense Flu Season, Say the Experts
Sam Benson Smith
Experts predict that this is going to be one of the most intense flu seasons in recent memory, according to NBC. Australia has a particularly severe flu season, then the U.S. will as well. Well, Australia had a particularly severe flu season.....
5 Things You Should Know About the Upcoming Flu Season
SEPTEMBER 11, 2017
Flu season is approaching soon, and it is a great time for pharmacists to educate patients on the importance of the annual influenza vaccine. Influenza can cause serious illness and death, especially among older adults, very young children, pregnant women, and individuals with certain chronic medical conditions. Below, please find 5 things you should know about the upcoming flu season
Flu vaccine less effective in obese individuals
Research we're watching
Topics
America’s opioid and hepatitis C crises
Meet Lynn Taylor, MD, a primary care physician fighting for cures on the front lines of America’s opioid and hepatitis C crises.
Getting Better
Health officials say opioid and heroin addiction—along with the resulting overdoses and HCV transmission—is rising at an alarming rate.Begin here
Recommended Reading
Early intervention, testing keys to addressing hepatitis C problem, says CDC scientist
The problem with hepatitis C infections in the U.S. has several fronts: new patients from injection drug users caught up in the opioid crisis, a large population in prison that may not be getting tested and treated and a large number of Baby Boomers, many of whom don’t know they are infected, said a senior scientist with the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
Global health experts are today are calling for the removal of restrictions preventing people who use drugs from accessing new hepatitis C cures. So long as these restrictions exist, the goal of disease elimination will remain out of reach, they say.
Healio
Updates In Hepatology
Injection drug users with HCV lack awareness of DAA efficacy
September 8, 2017
Updates In Hepatology
Injection drug users with HCV lack awareness of DAA efficacy
September 8, 2017
Most people who inject drugs were not aware of currently available, highly effective hepatitis C treatments, according results of a national survey in Scotland presented at the International Symposium on Hepatitis Care in Substance Users.
In The News
By Jen Skerritt, Aoyon Ashraf , and Doug Alexander
Canadian marijuana producers rose on Friday after Ontario said it will open as many as 150 government-run pot stores and allow online purchases as the country gears up for legalized recreational sales next July.
The World Health Organization says drinking alcohol is a well-established risk factor for a range of cancers, including tumours of the mouth, liver, breast and colon and bowel. And the risk of cancer rises with levels of alcohol consumed.
The end still is not in sight for San Diego County’s deadly hepatitis A outbreak.
In Switzerland, about every tenth adult suffers from morbid obesity. Such corpulence can not only lead to diabetes or cardiovascular disease, but also to fat accumulation in the liver. Worldwide, about 25 to 30 percent of all adults and increasingly children are affected by such steatosis - becoming the most frequent liver disease in recent years. Some patients suffer from inflammation that could lead to a scarred shrinkage of the liver (cirrhosis) or even cancer.
Gail Connor Roche
Publish Date: Friday, September 08, 2017
Men with chronic hepatitis C (HCV) infection or individuals who have had a blood transfusion experience faster progression of the liver-attacking virus, researchers in Canada say. The team—led by Aysegul Erman, a PhD candidate at the University of Toronto—also reported that longer duration and genotype 1 infection are associated with slower HCV progression.
Updated Informational Websites
News-Medical.Net
Last Updated: Sep 8, 2017
In The Journals
Owing to the limitations of this small case series of 5 patients, definitive conclusions regarding the clinical usefulness of end-of-treatment viral loads cannot be made. Although further studies are needed to determine the significance of quantifiable viremia at the end of treatment, the results of this case series demonstrate that this phenomenon does not always imply therapeutic failure.
HCV clearance after direct-acting antivirals in patients with cirrhosis by stages of liver impairment
HCV clearance after direct-acting antivirals in patients with cirrhosis by stages of liver impairment
Digestive and Liver Disease
September 2017 Volume 49, Issue 9, Pages 1022–1028
Risk for hepatocellular carcinoma after HCV antiviral therapy with DAAs: case closed?
Several studies of patients treated with interferon -based therapy nicely documented that the risk for hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) was markedly lower in patients who achieved SVR compared to those without SVR. 5-7 As a result, it was naturally assumed that with higher cure rates with DAAs, cancer rates would start to decline. It was therefore surprising and unsettling in 2016 to see a series of reports of unexpectedly high rates of ‘early’ HCC recurrence after ‘curative’ therapy as well as higher than expected rates of de novo HCC in patients who achieved SVR with DAAs.
Hepatocellular carcinoma: Resection vs. transplantation
Liver transplantation is the gold standard for treating early hepatocellular cancers. Because of the lack of donors, this option is, however, available to a limited degree only. Curative liver resection is an alternative in this setting. Markus B. Schoenberg, Julian N. Bucher, and coauthors investigated whether liver resection (LR) can yield results that are comparable to those of liver transplantation (LT) (Dtsch Arztebl Int 2017; 114: 519-26).
Blog Updates
September 2017 Volume 49, Issue 9, Pages 1022–1028
Risk for hepatocellular carcinoma after HCV antiviral therapy with DAAs: case closed?
Several studies of patients treated with interferon -based therapy nicely documented that the risk for hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) was markedly lower in patients who achieved SVR compared to those without SVR. 5-7 As a result, it was naturally assumed that with higher cure rates with DAAs, cancer rates would start to decline. It was therefore surprising and unsettling in 2016 to see a series of reports of unexpectedly high rates of ‘early’ HCC recurrence after ‘curative’ therapy as well as higher than expected rates of de novo HCC in patients who achieved SVR with DAAs.
Hepatocellular carcinoma: Resection vs. transplantation
Liver transplantation is the gold standard for treating early hepatocellular cancers. Because of the lack of donors, this option is, however, available to a limited degree only. Curative liver resection is an alternative in this setting. Markus B. Schoenberg, Julian N. Bucher, and coauthors investigated whether liver resection (LR) can yield results that are comparable to those of liver transplantation (LT) (Dtsch Arztebl Int 2017; 114: 519-26).
Blog Updates
Flu Season
Recommended Reading
Read all past and current Seasonal Flu Vaccine articles posted on this blog.
CDC guidance for the 2017-2018 influenza season has been published.
Recommended Reading
Read all past and current Seasonal Flu Vaccine articles posted on this blog.
CDC guidance for the 2017-2018 influenza season has been published.
Prepare for A Really Intense Flu Season, Say the Experts
Experts predict that this is going to be one of the most intense flu seasons in recent memory, according to NBC. Australia has a particularly severe flu season, then the U.S. will as well. Well, Australia had a particularly severe flu season.....
5 Things You Should Know About the Upcoming Flu Season
SEPTEMBER 11, 2017
Flu season is approaching soon, and it is a great time for pharmacists to educate patients on the importance of the annual influenza vaccine. Influenza can cause serious illness and death, especially among older adults, very young children, pregnant women, and individuals with certain chronic medical conditions. Below, please find 5 things you should know about the upcoming flu season
Research we're watching
Not only is obesity a risk factor for flu complications, but it might actually make the flu vaccine less effective, says a study published online June 6, 2017, by the International Journal of Obesity. Scientists at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill found that the flu shot provides less protection in people who are obese.
The study compared flu rates in 1,022 people during two recent flu seasons. All participants were vaccinated against the flu. The researchers looked at immune response to the vaccine and also tracked who went on to get the virus. They found that nearly 10% of obese participants got the flu, compared with 5% of their healthy-weight counterparts. This is bad news, because individuals with a body mass index of 40 or higher are also more prone to flu complications.
It's not totally clear why obesity reduces the effectiveness of the flu vaccine, but the researchers suggested that the differences might indicate that certain immune cells, called T cells, don't work as well in obese individuals.
Health Capsule
The study compared flu rates in 1,022 people during two recent flu seasons. All participants were vaccinated against the flu. The researchers looked at immune response to the vaccine and also tracked who went on to get the virus. They found that nearly 10% of obese participants got the flu, compared with 5% of their healthy-weight counterparts. This is bad news, because individuals with a body mass index of 40 or higher are also more prone to flu complications.
It's not totally clear why obesity reduces the effectiveness of the flu vaccine, but the researchers suggested that the differences might indicate that certain immune cells, called T cells, don't work as well in obese individuals.
Health Capsule
To help increase these numbers, scientists are trying to develop easier ways to give the flu vaccine. A new study shows that a special skin patch may work as well as a shot with a hypodermic needle. The patch is about the size of a dime and has 100 tiny needles that contain flu vaccine. The needles are just long enough to pierce skin. Once inside skin, they dissolve within minutes.
Enjoy the upcoming weekend, thanks for stopping by.
Enjoy the upcoming weekend, thanks for stopping by.
Tina
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