Thursday, February 22, 2018

Hepatitis C: The Bane of Baby Boomers, Though Treatable


Hepatitis C: The Bane of Baby Boomers, Though Treatable
FEBRUARY 21, 2018
Jeannette Y. Wick, RPh, MBA, FASCP

More than 3 million Americans have chronic hepatitis C virus (HCV), and physicians diagnose about 17,000 new cases annually. HCV is a silent disease, and most infected individuals are unaware that they are infected until they develop liver damage, cirrhosis, or liver cancer. Consequently, 12,000 Americans die from HCV complications each year.1,2,3 And people born between 1945 and 1965 are 5 times more likely to have hepatitis C than others.4 Although treatments have been available for many years, the consistent ability to cure HCV is recent.

Choosing the Treatment Regimen
Treatment goals include a persistent absence of HCV ribonucleic acid in serum 6 months or more after completing antiviral treatment, and preventing progression to serious complications.

Since 2013, oral regimens combining direct-acting antivirals from different classes (Table 1) have effectiveness exceeding 90%. These therapies have shorter durations and fewer adverse effects than older options.

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