Hepatitis C Weekly News

Trump Administration’s CDC Cuts Threaten Safety and Progress in Blood Disorders
“The Trump administration’s recent budget cuts to various health agencies under the US Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) could pose significant risks to patient safety and public health, according to experts from a wide range of backgrounds and medical specialties. Among the critically important entities eliminated at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) was the Division of Blood Disorders and Public Health Genomics (DBDPHG).5 This division was effectively dismantled on April 1, 2025, when the staff —all but 2 employees, according to their report — were placed on administrative leave.”

Federal officials slash CDC jobs, fire hundreds of Atlanta workers

Watch Bodies and Coffins Pile Up in Protest Against Cuts to HIV and Health Services
“Pallbearers in black carried one coffin after another—206 in total—and stacked them in the form of a morbid mountain in front of the Washington, DC, office of the U.S. Department of State, where Secretary of State Marco Rubio is headquartered. The action was the latest by AIDS advocates protesting the gutting of funding for global and national HIV funds and health programs.”

Atea Pharmaceuticals to Host Virtual HCV KOL Panel on May 14, 2025
“BOSTON, May 01, 2025 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) — Atea Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (Nasdaq: AVIR) (“Atea” or “Company”), a clinical-stage biopharmaceutical company engaged in the discovery and development of oral antiviral therapeutics for serious viral diseases, today announced it will virtually host a hepatitis C virus (HCV) key opinion leader (KOL) panel discussion on topics related to the treatment of HCV on Wednesday, May 14, 2025 at 10:00 AM ET.”

Disparities Identified in Linkage to Care for Children With Hepatitis C
“Hispanic/Latinx and White children have more than twofold and threefold increased odds of linkage to care, respectively, than Black children.”

50 years after Vietnam War’s end, expanded hepatitis C screening in Philly leads to more veterans cured
“The Vietnam War ended 50 years ago today with the fall of Saigon, but the war’s lasting impact continues. The extensive mental health toll on soldiers who were in combat zones and cases of cancer and deformities among veterans and Vietnamese people who were exposed to the chemical Agent Orange have been well documented. But perhaps lesser known is the fact that many Vietnam veterans were diagnosed with hepatitis C, a potentially deadly bloodborne viral infection of the liver, in the decades after the war’s end.”

Incarcerated men sue Essex County sheriff for denying hepatitis C treatment
“A federal class action lawsuit filed this week claims a controversial medical services contractor for Essex County jails — and by extension Sheriff Kevin Coppinger — refuses to provide hepatitis C treatment to incarcerated individuals.”

Supreme Court Heard Arguments on Preventive Health Care Coverage. How’d It Go?
“On Monday, the Supreme Court heard oral arguments in a case that will determine whether health insurers must continue to cover certain preventive services, including some cancer and diabetes screenings, heart statins, tests for hepatitis, and pre-exposure prophylaxis (PrEP) to prevent HIV. A ruling is expected by the end of June.”

Survey shows broad support for opening local overdose prevention center
“A study conducted by Brown’s School of Public Health found that 74% of residents and employees working within a 0.75-mile radius of the first state-authorized overdose prevention center supported the opening of a facility in their neighborhood.”

HCV Combination Therapy Meets Phase 2 Endpoints, Will Present Data at Conference
“Atea Pharmaceuticals is going to provide its full phase 2 data, which will show it met its primary endpoints at the upcoming EASL Congress in May. It will present the data in a poster titled, Efficacy and Safety of Bemnifosbuvir and Ruzasvir after 8 Weeks of Treatment in Patients with Chronic Hepatitis C Virus (HCV) Infection.”

MDHHS – We Treat Hep C
“A special harm reduction issue of the We Treat Hep C – newsletter for clinicians is here! It has a hepatitis C champion spotlight on Lauren Judd, nurse practitioner specializing in addiction medicine and infectious diseases at Detroit Recovery Project, along with helpful information.”

Simplified Hepatitis C Protocols Raise Treatment Uptake and Cure Rates
“A recent scoping review in Open Forum Infectious Diseases highlights the success of integrating Hepatitis C treatment into syringe services programs, leading to higher treatment initiation and cure rates among people who inject drugs, who often face significant care access barriers.”

HCV rates declined by 30% among adults in Alaska
“Fewer cases of chronic hepatitis C virus are reported each year in Alaska, but rates remain higher among men, younger adults, American Indian or Alaska Native people and rural residents, according to study results.”

FDA Greenlights Potent Nivolumab/Ipilimumab Combo for First-Line Use
“The FDA granted approval for the combination of nivolumab (Opdivo) plus ipilimumab (Yervoy) as a first-line treatment for adults with unresectable hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC). This decision is supported by findings from the phase 3 CheckMate 9DW (NCT04039607) clinical trial.”

Prison needle programs could save double what they cost – our new modelling shows how
“Needle and syringe programs are a proven public health intervention that provide free, sterile injecting equipment to people who use drugs. By reducing needle sharing, these programs help prevent the spread of blood-borne viruses such as hepatitis C and HIV and minimise life-threatening bacterial infections.”

ASCEND: HCV trial shows similar outcomes for patients regardless of provider type
“Overall, the study revealed that the primary outcomes did not differ by provider type — at least 90% of patients treated by each of the three provider types were cured. The researchers also found that there was no significant difference in the number of patients who were retreated, reinfected or died from an HCV-related cause when assessed by provider type. Based on these findings, Kattakuzhy concluded that decentralized care of HCV to nonspecialist providers is “supported by long term favorable outcomes.”

In the middle of a hepatitis outbreak, U.S. shutters the one CDC lab that could help
“After people started testing positive for hepatitis C in a coastal Florida town in December, state officials collected blood from patients, wrapped their specimens in dry ice and mailed them straight to the Centers for Disease Control in Atlanta, Ga.”

RFK Jr.’s cuts to CDC eliminate labs tracking STIs, hepatitis outbreaks
“Lab scientists at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention had been analyzing blood samples for weeks to determine how dozens of patients across six states had become infected with viral hepatitis, a disease that can cause serious liver damage. But their DNA detective work stopped abruptly last week. Widespread layoffs across federal health agencies earlier this month had resulted in the firing of all 27 lab scientists who worked in the only U.S. facility that could perform the sophisticated genetic sequencing needed to investigate hepatitis outbreaks, lab experts said. Another lab, the only one in the United States capable of testing for and tracking antibiotic-resistant gonorrhea, often called “super gonorrhea,” was also recently effectively shut down.”

Study: Millions Could Lose No-Cost Preventive Services if SCOTUS Upholds Ruling
“A study by the Stanford Prevention Policy Modeling Lab (PPML) finds that almost 30% of privately insured individuals in the United States, or nearly 40 million people, use at least one of the free preventive health services guaranteed under the Affordable Care Act (ACA). But those services are now under threat by an ongoing legal challenge.”

Hepatitis C Clearance in HIV Coinfection Linked to Participation in Ryan White Services
“Individuals with HIV and hepatitis C virus (HCV) coinfection receiving comprehensive care in Ryan White programs show high rates of HCV clearance, according to results of a study published in Open Forum Infectious Diseases. Despite expanded use of direct-acting antiviral therapy, the number of new HCV diagnoses has steadily increased between 2013 and 2022 among individuals in the United States.”

PrEP Advocates Denounce Draconian Cuts to Federally Funded HIV Infrastructure
“People living with and vulnerable to HIV, along with HIV providers, scientists, and advocates, face a draconian tipping point: the Trump Administration proposes to radically cut HIV prevention, treatment, and research for life-saving and cost-saving services and interventions. In recent weeks, several offices of critical importance to the national HIV response within the Department of Health and Human Services, or HHS, have been targeted for severe program and staffing cuts. If there were any doubt of the administration’s intent to neuter federally funded HIV infrastructure, this week a leaked copy of the administration’s forthcoming FY 2026 HHS budget request would clearly eviscerate funding for HIV prevention, research and other efforts to end HIV as an epidemic.”

2023 Viral Hepatitis Surveillance Report
Highlights: There were 4,966 new cases of acute hepatitis C reported during 2023. There were 69,000 estimated acute HCV infections during 2023 after adjusting for case underascertainment and underreporting. There were 101,525 cases of newly reported chronic hepatitis C during 2023. There were 11,194 hepatitis C-related deaths reported during 2023.”

Do ‘Harm Reduction’ Interventions for Substance Use Lower or Raise Trust in Government?
““Harm reduction” interventions for substance use – measures like needle exchange programs and methadone distribution that aim to reduce the adverse effects of substance use, rather than punish or prevent it – have been repeatedly shown to lower the risk of overdoses, mortality, and drug-related crime. But in many communities in rural America, there is a stigma attached to these approaches. Consequently, policymakers and health professionals in some communities have hesitated to implement or recommend harm reduction measures, fearing backlash.”

Alaska Sees HCV Reduction, But Need For Greater Test-And-Treat Adoption Remains
“In a recent Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report (MMWR), investigators reported that the state of Alaska saw reductions in incidence rates of hepatitis C. “The average annual rate of newly reported chronic hepatitis C (cases per 100,000 adults) during 2016–2023 was 121; the rate decreased a relative 30% from 142 (2016–2019) to 99 (2020–2023).””

OASIS and BSAFE Put People and Places First in Harm Reduction Efforts
“Deaths by overdose of people who use drugs is a significant public health issue in the United States, with over 500,000 deaths in the last decade and even more suffering from additional medical consequences of using drugs, such as the spread of hepatitis C and HIV. Researchers at the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health are working to prevent overdoses and the spread of disease in Baltimore through OASIS, an NIH-funded project that trains people who use drugs to be peer educators and stock locations where drugs are used with harm reduction supplies. OASIS builds off work from BSAFE, a CDC-funded project that trained people who actively use drugs in Baltimore to promote overdose prevention and distribute Naloxone to their community members.”

CHLPI Tracks Impact of Innovative State Reentry Waivers on Hep C and HIV
“Cambridge, MA – 3/12/2025 – The Center for Health Law and Policy Innovation (CHLPI) of Harvard Law School recently released an updated Reentry Waiver Tracker to highlight uptake and implementation of state Medicaid waivers allowing states to provide Medicaid coverage to individuals that are preparing for reentry to the community from incarceration. CHLPI’s Tracker underscores how these innovative waivers, if used strategically, can be used to expand access to hepatitis C and HIV treatment and prevention. This comprehensive tracker serves as a valuable resource for policymakers, advocates, and community members seeking to understand and promote the effective implementation of these critical waivers.”

Florida issues emergency restriction on Melbourne doctor after Hepatitis C cluster
“A Melbourne doctor’s license has been restricted under an emergency order after tests confirmed three of her patients contracted a “very rare strain” of Hepatitis C.”

HCV Screening Rates in Women Remain Low in the US
“Despite universal hepatitis C virus (HCV) screening recommendations issued in 2020, HCV screening rates remain suboptimal among US women, a new analysis showed. “We found that screening rates were higher and rose more steeply in pregnant individuals compared to nonpregnant reproductive age females after this guidance.” However overall, HCV screening in women still remained low by the end of 2022, authors Roshni Singh, MD, and Rachel Epstein, MD, MSc, with the section of infectious diseases, Boston Medical Center, noted in an email to this news organization.”

Liver Disease Does Not Discriminate, Healthcare Should Not Either
“International Women’s Day is a time to celebrate women’s achievements while acknowledging the challenges they continue to face — especially in healthcare. Liver disease, a condition deeply intertwined with social and economic factors, disproportionately affects women in ways that often go unnoticed. Gender bias in healthcare, social stigma, and economic disparities continue to lead women to self-stigma, downplay symptoms, skip testing, or drop out of care – ultimately delaying diagnosis and worsening outcomes.”

ElimiNATION Awareness Tour
“In conjunction with local Tri-Cities healthcare providers Kadlec, Range Community Clinic and Molina Healthcare of Washington, The ElimiNATION Awareness Tour will be at the Society of St. Vincent de Paul Food Bank on Wednesday, March 26, 2025 from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. offering education about hepatitis C and offering virus antibody screenings and confirmatory tests.”

Assessing the consistency of FIB-4, APRI, and GPR in evaluating significant liver fibrosis and cirrhosis in COVID-19 patients with concurrent liver diseases
“Conclusion: Using the current cutoff values, the non-invasive assessments demonstrated almost perfect consistency in evaluating significant liver fibrosis and cirrhosis in COVID-19 patients with liver diseases, though FIB-4 and GPR showed moderate consistency in cirrhosis evaluation in patients with coexisting liver conditions. Moreover, it also indicated that increased liver fibrosis correlates with more severe COVID-19 and prolonged coronavirus negative conversion time.”

Collaborative HCV Care with Pharmacists Could Address System-Level Treatment Barriers
“New research is shedding light on the importance of collaborative care for facilitating community-based point-of-diagnosis hepatitis C virus (HCV) treatment initiation among high-risk, marginalized patient populations.”

Addressing Treatment Gap for People With HIV and Hepatitis C
“Researchers identified factors associated with disparities in the uptake of direct-acting antivirals (DAAs) among people living with HIV and hepatitis C virus (HCV), according to new findings presented at the annual Conference on Retroviruses and Opportunistic Infections (CROI 2025).”

Protecting Key Populations From Abrupt Disruptions to Essential HIV Services
“Prevention, testing and treatment services for HIV, viral hepatitis and sexually transmitted infections (STI) have driven unprecedented progress in improving population health over the past two decades, with millions of new HIV infections and AIDS-related deaths averted.”

New health department data shows spikes in whooping cough, hepatitis C
“Hepatitis C, a bloodborne virus that infects the liver, also increased last year by 17%, per the infectious disease dashboard. In 2024, more than 600 people were diagnosed with the virus in Allegheny County.”

HIV and Hepatitis Groups Ask Supreme Court to Protect PrEP, Testing
“Last week, 20 HIV and hepatitis organizations filed an amicus brief with the Supreme Court in support of the US government’s position in Kennedy v. Braidwood Management, which challenges the Affordable Care Act’s (ACA) preventive services coverage requirement. The preventative services coverage requires private insurers to include a range of testing, including for HIV and hepatitis B and C, as well as preventative offerings, including PrEP for HIV and vaccinations for hepatitis A and B, and counseling for sexually transmitted infection prevention.”

New Model Reveals Key Predictors of Hepatitis C Virus Transmission From Mother to Child
“Maternal hepatitis C virus (HCV) RNA titer > 10⁶ International Units (IU)/mL and antepartum bleeding are key predictors of perinatal transmission, with the risk ranging from 1.5% to 28.5%. The prediction model achieved an area under the curve of 0.76 for perinatal transmission.”

Community Surveys Show Enthusiasm for Long-Acting Hepatitis C Cure Research
“People living with or at risk of hepatitis C virus (HCV), health care providers, and policymakers in low- and middle-income countries (LMICs) showed significant interest in a potential long-acting HCV cure, recent surveys have found.”

Patients With HIV Coinfection More Likely to Clear HCV
“A retrospective cohort study published in Open Forum Infectious Diseases analyzed surveillance data obtained between 2015 and 2021 to assess the impact of HIV coinfection and Ryan White (RW) HIV care on hepatitis C virus (HCV) clearance. Marissa Tan, DO, MPH, and colleagues found that among 10,251 patients with newly reported HCV, 353 patients (3.4%) had HIV coinfection. Patients with HIV were more likely to achieve HCV clearance than those with HCV monoinfection (adjusted HR, 1.2; 95% CI, 1.1–1.4; P<0.05).”

Talal to Be Honored With 2025 Top Ten Clinical Research Achievement Award
“A novel approach developed by a UB physician-scientist and colleagues to cure hepatitis C virus in people with opioid use disorder using facilitated telemedicine is being honored with a 2025 Top Ten Clinical Research Achievement Award from the Clinical Research Forum.”

Renowned geneticist Francis Collins retires from NIH, urging ‘respect’ for embattled workers
“WASHINGTON (AP) — Dr. Francis Collins, a renowned geneticist and former longtime director of the National Institutes of Health, announced Saturday that he has retired, leaving an agency being upended by budget cuts and layoffs.”

Hepatitis C test guidelines led to more screenings in women, especially in pregnancy, but not enough
“Screening per 1,000 person-years increased from 141 to 253 in pregnant women and from 29 to 37 in nonpregnant women. By December 2022, 38.7% of pregnant women and 8.7% of nonpregnant women had ever been tested for HCV. At the same time, 90.4% of pregnant women had been tested for HIV.”

Insights into the spatial epidemiology of hepatitis C infection: systematic synthesis of area-level determinants and spatiotemporal analyses
“Conclusion: This review emphasizes the imperative of deciphering the complex interplay of area-level factors in HCV infection dynamics. Understanding the potential risk environment landscape of HCV could facilitate identifying vulnerable areas and communities. Additionally, the limited application of spatial analytics in HCV research highlights the untapped potential, emphasizing the need for enhanced spatial techniques to pinpoint priority areas for intervention.”

‘I can’t believe I’m alive’ | Meet the ‘Hep C Squad’ trying to save the lives of people with Hepatitis C
“HAMILTON, Ohio — Stephanie Bryant is walking her dogs. Dogs that have gotten her through a lot. “I never envisioned I’d have such a happy and joyous life,” she said.”

Free HIV & Hepatitis C screenings now available at Henry County Public Health
“MT. PLEASANT — Henry County Public Health, in partnership with River Hills Community Health Center, is now offering free, confidential HIV and Hepatitis C screenings on the third Friday of every month. The screenings will take place from 2-4 p.m. at Henry County Public Health, located at 106 N. Jackson St., Ste 103 in Mt. Pleasant.”

HCV Screening Rates During Pregnancy Remain Suboptimal After 2020 Guideline Update
“Key Takeaways: Universal HCV screening guidelines in 2020 led to increased screening among pregnant women compared to nonpregnant women, though overall uptake remains suboptimal. The study utilized TriNetX LIVE data, analyzing HCV screening rates from 68 US healthcare organizations, covering 115,490,864 patients.”

Kaiser Permanente Hawaiʻi’s Viral Hepatitis Clinic cures 1,000th hepatitis C patient
“The Kaiser Permanente Hawaiʻi Viral Hepatitis Clinic has reached a milestone by curing its 1,000th patient of hepatitis C. “It’s a very satisfying thing to make that call and tell someone they’re cured,” said Rashmi Baragi, MD, director of the viral hepatitis clinic. “You can prevent so much damage to a patient from this infection.””

OHSU scientists develop first transgenic model for hepatitis B research
“Researchers at Oregon Health & Science University have developed the first transgenic nonhuman primate model — genetically modified to carry a human gene — for studying hepatitis B virus. The breakthrough could lead to the development of new treatments for the disease, which affects about 250 million people globally and results in nearly 1 million deaths annually.”

FDA Grants Fast Track Designation to Amezalpat for Treatment of Hepatocellular Carcinoma
“Key Takeaways: Amezalpat has received FDA fast track designation for hepatocellular carcinoma, enhancing its development following orphan drug designation. Positive phase 1b/2 trial results showed improved survival and response rates with amezalpat combined with atezolizumab and bevacizumab.”

DAA, Interferon HCV Treatments Result in Similar Hepatocellular Carcinoma Risk
“Key Takeaways: DAA therapy reduces de novo HCC risk in HCV-related cirrhosis compared to no treatment, but is similar to IFN therapy. High SVR rates with DAAs do not eliminate HCC risk, highlighting the need for continued monitoring.”

16th person in Penobscot County tests positive for HIV
“The Maine Center for Disease Control and Prevention announced the positive test earlier this month. It is the latest case in the county’s active HIV cluster, and comes less than a month after the state reported the 15th positive case of HIV. All 16 of the people also tested positive for hepatitis C and reported injecting drugs within a year of being diagnosed, the Maine CDC reported. Fourteen of the 16 people were also unhoused in the last year, and 10 of the 16 were linked to care within 30 days of their diagnosis.”

Global progress, challenges and strategies in eliminating public threat of viral hepatitis
“The problem caused by viral hepatitis is a major public health challenge faced in the past decade, and the global goal of eliminating viral hepatitis by 2030 is still far away. With the use of hepatitis B vaccine and the launch of new drugs, there are more means to control viral hepatitis and more technologies to prevent, diagnose and treat it.”

Challenges remain a decade after HIV crisis in southern Indiana
“A major setback came in 2021, when Scott County Commissioners voted to end a needle exchange program that was established in response to the outbreak.”

People Who Use Drugs Among Victims of Trump’s Assault on USAID
“On January 30, employees at SANPUD (South African Network of People Who Use Drugs) received a letter informing them that they’d soon get their last paychecks. The organization, which worked with fellow nonprofit TB HIV Care, had been forced to halt operations—part of a global freeze imposed on groups receiving United States humanitarian aid. Some 5,000 people were being served by TB HIV CARE and SANPUD at two harm reduction sites in eastern South Africa—depending on them for access to resources including sterile syringes and medications for opioid use disorder (MOUD).”

Virtual clinic for liver diseases opens to US patients
“The LiverRight Hepatology Clinic offers same-week video visits to adults who have been diagnosed with a liver disease or who need a diagnosis. Through appointments at the clinic, patients will be able to get referrals for blood tests and liver imaging, as well as medications that can help treat these diseases. The clinic is available to patients in all 50 states.”

For Martinez and La Bodega, recognition is a testament to people making it possible
“When Anthony Martinez, MD, launched an inventive hepatology center within ECMC in 2013, he wasn’t trying to create a globally renowned initiative to treat a persistent issue or even earn accolades for doing it. He was simply trying to deliver treatment with humanity—and achieve effective results.”

Awareness month focuses on challenges for rural communities
“February is Rare Liver Diseases Month, and the Global Liver Institute (GLI) is promoting a series of activities and events to raise awareness of the long list of rare liver diseases, especially in rural areas where healthcare resources and education are limited.”

Liver cancer risk and changes in lifestyle habits after successful hepatitis C virus therapy post-DAA HCV therapy: lifestyle changes and liver cancer risk
“Conclusions: In this prospective cohort, successful HCV therapy was followed by significant changes in lifestyle habits translating into increases in BMI and alcohol consumption. These post-SVR changes raise concerns that the chemopreventive benefits of HCV cure may be counterbalanced by increased risks of liver disease progression and LC development from metabolic risk factors and alcohol use. Post-SVR, patients may benefit from intensive counseling and pharmacotherapy to address obesity and alcohol use.”

City releases report on Hepatitis, encourages residents to get tested
“The Philadelphia Department of Public Health has released its 2023 Annual Report on Hepatitis B, C, and D in the city. The report reveals that hepatitis B and C are present across all residential ZIP codes, contributing to cases of premature death and cancer among residents.”

Viral hepatitis elimination requires equitable public health approach
“Viral hepatitis is a major danger to public health. According to WHO’s 2024 Global Hepatitis Report, viral hepatitis deaths increased from 1.1 million in 2019 to 1.3 million in 2022, rates now similar to tuberculosis.”

A major step for HCV research
“The only natural host of the hepatitis C virus (HCV) is humans. Model organisms for laboratory studies, especially mice, cannot be infected which makes the search for a vaccine against HCV extremely difficult because the protective effect cannot be tested directly. In order to understand why the virus cannot infect mice and to enable the development of new animal models, researchers at TWINCORE in Hannover have generated an adapted virus variant that can infect mouse liver cells in vitro. They have now published their work in the Journal of Hepatology Reports.”

HCV Cure Rate Quadruples With Peer-Assisted Telehealth
“Pills can cure infection with the hepatitis C virus (HCV), but getting the medication to patients who need treatment can be a challenge. Many patients with HCV use drugs such as methamphetamine or heroin and were exposed to the virus by sharing needles. Lack of housing, difficulty getting to appointments, and mistrust of the healthcare system are potential barriers to care.”