Wednesday, February 28, 2018

Journal, and patient blog updates - Beyond one virus: vaccination against hepatitis B after hepatitis C treatment.

Read the latest journal and viral hepatitis updates from patient bloggers who work hard to educate and inspire us all.

HCV Advocate
HCV Advocate has just published their Monthly Newsletter, check out the latest "March issue."

News
Forbes
Judy Stone
Given the experience in Indiana, which saw a spike in STDs, Hepatitis C and HIV, Walensky expects the HIV/Hepatitis C to “go up in lock-step with those” other sexually transmitted diseases. Walensky raised interesting points regarding HIV medications as well, noting “In the past 2-3 years, the cost of first line antiretroviral ...

Gilead Sciences Canada, Inc. (Gilead Canada) today recognizes the Ontario Ministry of Health and Long-Term Care for its leadership in the expansion of access to therapies that treat chronic hepatitis C virus infection under the Ontario Drug Benefit (ODB) Program. Today, all eligible ODB recipients will have greater access to treatment, regardless of the severity of disease (fibrosis level), to achieve a cure and improve their quality of life. Patients with chronic hepatitis C will no longer have to wait for their disease to progress before starting treatment.

Specialty Pharmacy Times
A study published by Clinical Infectious Diseases suggests that screening all adults for HCV may be cost-effective and could also identify more patients with the infection than current recommendations.

In The Journals
Lancet
Volume 18, No. 3, p246–247, March 2018
New treatments for hepatitis C virus (HCV) infection with direct-acting antivirals provide an extraordinary cure rate. A recent Article by Xavier Forns and colleagues1 shows an outstanding 99% sustained virological response among all viral genotypes.

NIH
Developing a universal influenza vaccine — a vaccine that can provide durable protection for all age groups against multiple influenza strains, including those that might cause a pandemic — is a priority for the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID), part of the National Institutes of Health. Writing in the Journal of Infectious Diseases, NIAID officials detail the Institute’s new strategic plan for addressing the research areas essential to creating a safe and effective universal influenza vaccine. They describe the scientific goals that will be supported to advance influenza vaccine development. The strategic plan builds upon a workshop NIAID convened in June 2017 that gathered scientists from academia, industry and government who developed criteria for defining a universal influenza vaccine, identified knowledge gaps, and delineated research strategies for addressing those gaps.

Journal Of Hepatology
«The times they are a’changin’» – Positioning the European Association for the Study of the Liver in the changing landscape of hepatology
Bob Dylan’s words hold relevance for several forces currently acting upon hepatology and the European Association for the Study of the Liver (EASL). The arrival of direct-acting antivirals, which marked the definitive transformation of hepatitis C virus infection into a curable disease with a new focus on public health represents only one of the changes. Fuelled by demographic changes of an ageing population, by migration movements in and beyond Europe, as well as by lifestyle changes and the explosion of the metabolic syndrome, other areas are in rapid expansion. The most pronounced of which are related to non-alcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD), hepatitis B virus infection, alcoholic disease and hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC). Moreover, tremendous dynamics in science and drug development now offer treatment options for patients with rare diseases that are also increasing in prevalence. Major trends at the societal level also have an impact on EASL.

Healio
Foster GR, et al. Hepatol. 2018;doi:10.1002/hep.29852.
February 27, 2018
Zepatier demonstrated high efficacy among patients with hepatitis C genotype 3, regardless of treatment experience or baseline resistance-associated substitutions, according to recently published data.

Healio Gastroenterology
Feature
Ira M. Jacobson, MD
The field of hepatology has seen revolutionary changes occuring within hepatitis C therapy over the past few years. This extraordinary newfound ability to cure almost all patients with chronic HCV raises many questions about clinical outcomes.

“Herbal and dietary supplement-induced liver injury is an increasing healthcare problem,” Lucena said. “The present study is a comprehensive analysis of all HILI cases reported to the Spanish DILI Registry to date. This study provides relevant information about clinical features associated with HILI, and highlights the importance of identifying all medicinal products, prescription drugs as well as herbal and dietary supplement products, taken by patients who develop liver abnormalities.”

Of Interest @ Healio
By some estimates, there are between 50,000 and 200,000 apps intended to serve a medical need. These apps claim to manage symptoms of depression, improve care in patients with irritable bowel disease, manage diabetes as well as help patients with a myriad of other medical uses.

HepCBC
Read today's news or a nice summary of notable headlines published in the latest issue of "The Weekly Bull."

Hepatitis B
AGA Blog
Gastroenterology and Clinical Gastroenterology and Hepatology.
Dr. Kristine Novak
NVR3–778, a capsid assembly modulator, reduces serum levels of hepatitis B virus (HBV) DNA and HBV RNA in mice with humanized livers and stable HBV infection, researchers report in the February issue of Gastroenterology. The combination of NVR3–778 and interferon prevented viral replication and HBV RNA particle production to a greater extent than....

Hep B Blog
Hepatitis B Foundation
February 28, 2018
Welcome to “Journey to the Cure” This is a web series that chronicles the progress at the Hepatitis B Foundation and Baruch S. Blumberg Institute towards finding the cure for hepatitis B.

Hepatitis C
CHERISH
In a recent publication in Clinical Infectious Diseases, CHERISH trainee Dr. Shashi Kapadia, CHERISH staff member Philip Jeng, CHERISH director Dr. Bruce Schackman and CHERISH research affiliate Dr. Yuhua Bao characterize variation in DAA utilization among states and explore the association between changes in Medicaid treatment eligibility criteria and trends in DAA utilization.

Life Beyond Hep C
Connie M. Welch
Hep C Patient John, shares his conquering story from hepatitis C, end stage liver disease, liver cancer and liver transplant. Connie: John, Thank you for being with us this week and sharing your awesome story of how you’ve come through this battle with liver disease.

Hep Blogs
By Connie M. Welch 
February 28, 2018 
The guiding principle of the national transplant system has been; locals first. Most organs stay in the areas where they are donated, even if sicker patients are waiting in other parts of the country.

Hep - Forums 
Welcome to the Hep Forums, a round-the-clock discussion area for people who have Hepatitis B, C or a co-infection, their friends and family and others with questions about hepatitis and liver health. Check in frequently to read what others have to say, post your comments, and hopefully learn more about how you can reach your own health goals.

HepatitisC.net
By Kimberly Morgan Bossley
February 27, 2018
Working has always been my “thing” you can say. I started very young and have never not had a job or career. During the Spring of 2005, I was running three individual companies. All...

By Daryl Luster
February 26, 2018
Yes I know, a sensational title. I apologize for the dramatic tone. The thing is that we are inclined to do this bracing thing in preparation for storms, difficult events, or things...

By Kimberly Morgan Bossley
February 23, 2018
Stop complaining about your situation and start doing things to change it. How many times have we all heard this through our journey in life? I know for myself growing up it...

HepatitisC.net - Forums
Talk about it - privately
Have questions? Want to talk about Hep C? Connect with others privately in our forums!

HIV
Nature Blogs
Amy Maxmen
Several vaccines and drugs for preventing the spread of HIV are showing signs of success in clinical trials, three decades after scientists began the search. But some researchers fear that progress will stall without a coordinated strategy to ensure that the most promising therapies to prevent infection win support from policymakers and reach the people who need them.

NAM 
The new edition of "HIV update is now online."
Untreated hepatitis C can cause serious liver disease, including fibrosis (a build-up of fibrous scar tissue, leading to a ‘stiff’ liver) and cirrhosis (serious scarring that blocks blood flow through the liver, kills liver cells and interferes with liver function). The more advanced the fibrosis and cirrhosis, the greater the risk of serious illness and death. Successful hepatitis C treatment can clear the virus from the body. But less is known about its long-term impact on fibrosis or cirrhosis.

Women and Viral Hepatitis
Healio
A systematic review and meta-analysis revealed that maternal viral load among mothers with hepatitis B was a significant risk factor for mother-to-child transmission, and was dose-dependent with HBV transmission incidence.

Rates of hepatitis C infections are on the rise among adults in the United States, and some of those adults are pregnant women.

Healthy You
Scope
Stanford Medicine 
February 26, 2018
There's a wide debate surrounding the use of antidepressants. Do they really work? If so, how well? And how do you know which one to select?

Harvard Health
Christopher Bullock, MD, Carolyn A. Bernstein, MD, FAHS
Getting regular exercise is one of the best actions you can take to improve or maintain your overall health. Fitting exercise into your life is not as difficult as it might seem, but it does require some planning.

Also @ Harvard Health - Diet and depression

NHS
Tuesday February 27 2018
A new UK study investigated levels of inappropriate antibiotic prescribing by GPs in England. This was defined as prescribing antibiotics where guidelines say they're of little to no benefit.

Thanks for stopping by.
Tina

No comments:

Post a Comment