Hepatitis C News Update

Vosevi Is Effective as Salvage Therapy for People With Hepatitis C “More than 90% of people who were not previously cured with direct-acting antiviral therapy for hepatitis C were subsequently successfully treated with Vosevi (voxilaprevir/velpatasvir/sofosbuvir), according to study findings presented at the AASLD Liver Meeting.” Improved Access to Direct-acting Antivirals Lowers Hepatitis C Incidence Rates “Study finds a strong decline in hepatitis C incidence in the years immediately following broad access to direct-acting antiviral drugs. Improving access to direct-acting antivirals (DAAs) was found to reduce incidence rates of hepatitis C virus (HCV) in people living with HIV (PLHIV), according to a study published in eClinicalMedicine, part of The Lancet Discovery Science. The study noted that better access to DAA could lower the incidence rate of HCV through a treatment as prevention (TasP) effect.” Current drug use does not hinder treatment of hepatitis C virus “WASHINGTON — Active IV or prescription drug use did not affect attainment of sustained virologic response when treatment adherence for hepatitis C virus was already variable, according to a poster presented at The Liver Meeting.” Study highlights ‘substantial need’ to provide DAA therapy to all patients with HCV “Direct-acting antiviral treatment significantly lowered the risk for mortality and liver and non-liver outcomes in patients with chronic hepatitis C virus infection, regardless of disease stage, researchers reported.” DAAs Less Likely for Hep C Patients With Alcohol Use Disorder “WEDNESDAY, Jan. 4, 2023 (HealthDay News) — For patients with hepatitis C virus (HCV), those with current alcohol use disorder (AUD) or a history of AUD are less likely to receive direct-acting antiviral (DAA) treatment, according to a study published online Dec. 14 in JAMA Network Open.” Research: Screening lack for infectious diseases among Medicaid users with opioid use disorder “According to the study conducted in part with the University of Southern Maine, about 25% of patients are being tested for HIV, Hepatitis B, and Hepatitis C.” Officials in Nebraska, South Dakota, Oklahoma begin to probe prisons’ hepatitis C treatment efforts WASHINGTON — Members of Congress, state legislators, regulators, and legal advocates are calling on prisons to explain their poor hepatitis C treatment rates, after a STAT investigation revealing that more than 1,000 people had died from complications of the curable disease. In South Dakota and Oklahoma, lawmakers have written to their respective departments of corrections about STAT’s reporting. In Nebraska, the state’s inspector general of corrections requested that the prison explain a policy, obtained by STAT, requiring that incarcerated people sign a consent form that misrepresents the benefits of available hepatitis C treatments. Lawmakers in other states are pledging broader probes into the issue, too.” Hepatitis C is a slow-moving killer that can be stopped. What’s getting in the way? “Michael Mendez said that when learned he had hepatitis C, “I didn’t even know what it was.” Mendez, 47, had been homeless for years in Los Angeles, and said he hadn’t gone to a doctor the entire time he was living on the streets. When Mendez got a roof over his head, at the Arroyo Seco Tiny Home Village, he decided to stop at the UCLA Health mobile clinic that rolled weekly to the Highland Park site—and soon learned about the infection that could jeopardize his life.”