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Hepatitis News:

September 2007

Women Offered Hepatitis C Tests [UK]
"A Lincolnshire hospital is contacting 62 women operated on by a gynaecologist who was carrying the Hepatitis C virus. Boston's Pilgrim Hospital will tell the women the risk of infection was remote, and offer them blood tests.

The specialist, unaware he had the virus when he treated them a few years ago, passed it on to several patients, one of whom later died."

Who Will Recover Spontaneously From Hepatitis C Virus Infection?
Science Daily - "More than 3% of world population is infected with hepatitis C virus (HCV). The outcome of HCV infections is either self recovery or chronic hepatitis, and many of the chronic infections will develop into liver cirrhosis or liver cancer. Since there is no cure for chronic hepatitis C, nor is there any approved vaccine for this virus, hepatitis C is currently a major health problem worldwide. Twenty to fifty percent of HCV infected patients recovers spontaneously. The hepatitis C patients and their relatives like to know if his/her infection would fall into the category for self recovery."

Health Department Tells Doctors to Watch for Hepatitis C
"Doctors in Erie County should be on the lookout for hepatitis C, a disease that could be fatal. Erie County Health Commissioner Doctor Anthony Billittier says there appears to be an increasing number of people with the disease. He says it's important to find cases of Hepatitis C and provide treatment."

A Tiny Cut Turns Into A Close Call
"My patient's laceration was relatively easy to suture. Only one layer of stitches would be needed, and I could have him on his way in less than 20 minutes. My years working in the emergency room had made me comfortable with minor injuries; the repair looked good, and the scarring would probably be minimal."

Intercell Says Hepatitis C Vaccine Shows Progress
"Austrian vaccine maker Intercell said on Monday interim results from a small sample size of a Phase II study for a Hepatitis C vaccine showed a significant viral load reduction and very good safety profile. The first data came from 25 patients in an exploratory clinical study of 50 patients who were chronically infected with Genotype 1 of the Hepatitis C virus, Intercell said in a statement."

Romark Launches Clinical Trial of Hepatitis C Drug
"Romark Laboratories said it has begun a Phase II clinical trial of Alinia for treating chronic hepatitis C in the United States. Romark also said it will release interim data from an international clinic trial during a meeting of the American Association for the Study of Liver Diseases in early November. The two steps represent important milestones for Romark's development program, Dr. Jean-Francois Rossignol, chairman and chief science officer, said in a release."

Aug 10 (Reuters) - "ViroPharma Inc. said it and partner Wyeth Pharmaceuticals, a unit of Wyeth decided to end dosing with a drug to treat Hepatitis C virus in a mid-stage trial due to safety concerns. ViroPharma said the drug, HCV-796, was given along with pegylated interferon and ribavirin. This decision follows a review of safety data which shows elevated liver enzyme levels in some patients after 8 weeks or more of therapy with the combination, ViroPharma said in a statement."

"A billboard campaign that Maryland state officials hope will raise awareness of the hepatitis C virus (HCV) began appearing this week in the Baltimore area. "There are ways to protect your liver and avoid transmitting HCV, said Dr. Michelle A. Gourdine, DHMH deputy secretary for Public Health Services. If you are at risk, a simple blood test is a good way to learn your status." And that is the message the billboards are designed to impart. Six faces jump out of a bright yellow background, all thinking, Me? The balance of the text reads "Hep C.Find Out." HepCMaryland.org, a site sponsored by DHMH."

Hepatitis C Threat Through Sex Seen
"A growing body of evidence suggesting that hepatitis C can be transmitted sexually is prompting some AIDS activists to call for more research and for AIDS groups to talk to clients about the health threat. "People are starting to hear that message," said Spencer Cox, founder and executive director of the Medius Institute for Gay Men's Health."

Peregrine's Hepatitis C Virus Phase Ib Study Results Promising
"Peregrine Pharmaceuticals announced final data from its Phase Ib study of bavituximab in patients with chronic hepatitis C viral infection. The data has been accepted for an oral presentation at The Liver Meeting 2007, the premier event in the science and practice of hepatology hosted by the American Association for the Study of Liver Diseases (AASLD)."

IBM and University Scientists Launch Global Computing Effort to Find Cures for Dengue, West Nile, and Hepatitis C Diseases
"In an effort to halt the spread of deadly infectious diseases now threatening to reach epidemic proportions around the world, an unprecedented research effort was launched today by IBM (NYSE: IBM), The University of Texas Medical Branch (UTMB), and the University of Chicago to discover drugs to treat and cure dengue fever, West Nile encephalitis, hepatitis C, and a host of related diseases including yellow fever."

Pharmasset Completes Enrollment Of Phase 1 Study Of R7128 For HCV
"Pharmasset, Inc. has completed patient enrollment of the ongoing multiple ascending dose study of R7128 for the treatment of hepatitis C virus (HCV). R7128, a nucleoside polymerase inhibitor of HCV, is currently being evaluated in a Phase 1 clinical trial as part of Pharmasset's collaboration with Roche. The primary objective of the multiple ascending dose study is to assess the safety, tolerability and pharmacokinetics of R7128 after once-daily or twice- daily dosing for 14 days in up to 40 patients chronically infected with HCV genotype 1 who have previously failed interferon therapy."

Tattoo Studio Faces $10M Lawsuit [Canada]
"A $10 million class-action lawsuit has been launched against an Oshawa body art studio after thousands of people were urged to get tested for blood-borne diseases because they may have been exposed to dirty equipment.

The lawsuit against Longhorn Custom Bodyart Studio was filed in the Ontario Superior Court of Justice in Whitby Monday on behalf of Oshawa resident Kaleb Beaulieu, who received a tattoo at Longhorn in July."

Man Battles for His Life, Medicaid Coverage
"A Columbia man received news no one wants to hear last July: diagnosis of not one, but two serious illnesses. He says he's unable to seek proper treatment because of complications with Medicaid. Living with Hepatitis C and Cirrhosis of the Liver hasn't come easy for Chan McCaskill."

Spontaneous elimination of hepatitis C virus infection: A retrospective study on demographic, clinical, and serological correlates. Wietzke-Braun P, et al. World J Gastroenterol. 2007 Aug 21;13(31):4224-4229.

Retransplantation for hepatitis C: Results of a U.S. multicenter retransplant study. McCashland T, et al. Liver Transpl. 2007 Aug 30;13(9):1246-1253 [Epub ahead of print].

An Incident Case-Control Study of Modes of Hepatitis C Virus Transmission in France. Delarocque-Astagneau E, et al. Ann Epidemiol. 2007 Aug 27; [Epub ahead of print]

Adverse effects during the treatment with pegylated interferon and ribavirin in children with chronic hepatitis C. Kowala-Piaskowska A, et al. Pharmacoepidemiol Drug Saf. 2007 Aug 24; [Epub ahead of print].

Diagnostic accuracy of the aspartate aminotransferase-to-platelet ratio index for the prediction of hepatitis C-related fibrosis: A systematic review. Shaheen AA, Myers RP. Hepatology. 2007 Aug 17; [Epub ahead of print].

Thyroid function and anti-thyroid autoantibodies in untreated children with vertically acquired chronic hepatitis C virus infection. Indolfi G, et al. Clin Endocrinol (Oxf). 2007 Aug 13; [Epub ahead of print].

Re-evaluation of the true rate of hepatitis C virus mother-to-child transmission and its novel risk factors based on our two prospective studies. Hayashida A, et al. J Obstet Gynaecol Res. 2007 Aug;33(4):417-22.

Clinical Features and Outcome of Chronic Viral Hepatitis with Acute Exacerbation in Patients with Concurrent Infections of Hepatitis B and C Virus. Chuang CS, et al. Dig Dis Sci. 2007 Aug 9; [Epub ahead of print].

Hepatitis C virus genotype 1b as a major risk factor associated with hepatocellular carcinoma in patients with cirrhosis: A seventeen-year prospective cohort study. Bruno S, et al. Hepatology. 2007 Aug 6; [Epub ahead of print].

Hepatitis C treatment in "difficult-to-treat" psychiatric patients with pegylated interferon-alpha and ribavirin: Response and psychiatric side effects. Schaefer M, et al. Hepatology. 2007 Aug 1; [Epub ahead of print].

Is liver biopsy mandatory in children with chronic hepatitis C? Iorio R, Verrico A, Giannattasio A. World J Gastroenterol. 2007 Aug 7;13(29):4025-6.

Depression following pegylated interferon-alpha: Characteristics and vulnerability. Lotrich FE, Rabinovitz M, Gironda P, Pollock BG. J Psychosom Res. 2007 Aug;63(2):131-5.

Evidence for a role of nonalcoholic steatohepatitis in hepatitis C: a prospective study. Bedossa P, et al. Hepatology. 2007 Aug;46(2):380-7.

Selective decrease in hepatitis C virus-specific immunity among African Americans and outcome of antiviral therapy. Rosen HR, et al. Hepatology. 2007 Aug;46(2):350-8.

Long-term follow-up of the hepatitis C HENCORE cohort: response to therapy and occurrence of liver-related complications. Pradat P, et al. J Viral Hepat. 2007 Aug;14(8):556-63.

Relative contribution of iron genes, dysmetabolism and hepatitis C virus (HCV) in the pathogenesis of altered iron regulation in HCV chronic hepatitis. Valenti L, et al. Haematologica. 2007 Aug;92(8):1037-42. Epub 2007 Jul 20.

Pharmacodynamics of peginterferon alpha-2a and peginterferon alpha-2b in interferon-naïve patients with chronic hepatitis C: a randomized, controlled study. Bruno R, et al. Aliment Pharmacol Ther. 2007 Aug 1;26(3):369-76.

Frequency of very low HCV viremia detected by a highly sensitive HCV-RNA assay. Fytili P, et al. J Clin Virol. 2007 Aug;39(4):308-11.

Glucose intolerance and hypoadiponectinemia are already present in lean patients with chronic hepatitis C infected with genotype non-3 viruses. Anty R, et al. Eur J Gastroenterol Hepatol. 2007 Aug;19(8):671-7.

Neuropsychological function in Greek patients with chronic hepatitis C. Karaivazoglou K, et al. Liver Int. 2007 Aug;27(6):798-805.

Prolonged-interferon therapy reduces hepatocarcinogenesis in aged-patients with chronic hepatitis C. Arase Y,et al. J Med Virol. 2007 Aug;79(8):1095-102.

A large-scale, multicentre, double-blind trial of ursodeoxycholic acid in patients with chronic hepatitis C. Omata M, et al. Gut. 2007 Aug 30; [Epub ahead of print]

Effect of sustained viral response on hepatic venous pressure gradient in hepatitis C-related cirrhosis. Roberts S, et al. Clin Gastroenterol Hepatol. 2007 Aug;5(8):932-7.

Factors affecting serum concentrations of hepatitis C virus (HCV) RNA in HCV genotype 1-infected patients with chronic hepatitis. Ticehurst JR, Hamzeh FM, Thomas DL. J Clin Microbiol. 2007 Aug;45(8):2426-33.

Portal-systemic shunting in patients with fibrosis or cirrhosis due to chronic hepatitis C: the minimal model for measuring cholate clearances and shunt. Everson GT, et al. Aliment Pharmacol Ther. 2007 Aug 1;26(3):401-10.

A 7 gene signature identifies the risk of developing cirrhosis in patients with chronic hepatitis C. Huang H, et al. Hepatology. 2007 Aug;46(2):297-306.

Oral IDN-6556, an antiapoptotic caspase inhibitor, may lower aminotransferase activity in patients with chronic hepatitis C. Pockros PJ, et al. Hepatology. 2007 Aug;46(2):324-9.

Impact of NS5A Sequences of Hepatitis C Virus Genotype 1a on Early Viral Kinetics during Treatment with Peginterferon- alpha 2a Plus Ribavirin. Dal Pero F, et al. J Infect Dis. 2007 Oct 1;196(7):998-1005. Epub 2007 Aug 21.

Telaprevir and pegylated interferon-alpha-2a inhibit wild-type and resistant genotype 1 hepatitis C virus replication in patients. Kieffer TL, et al. Hepatology. 2007 Aug 6; [Epub ahead of print].

Prediction of Response to Pegylated Interferon and Ribavirin in Hepatitis C by Polymorphisms in the Viral Core Protein and Very Early Dynamics of Viremia. Akuta N, et al. Intervirology. 2007 Aug 29;50(5):361-368 [Epub ahead of print]

Risk of hepatocellular carcinoma and secondary structure of hepatitis C virus (HCV) NS3 protein amino-terminus, in patients infected with HCV subtype 1b. Nishise Y, et al. J Infect Dis. 2007 Oct 1;196(7):1006-9. Epub 2007 Aug 23.

Extraordinary apolipoprotein oxidation in chronic hepatitis C and liver cirrhosis. Kasthuri RS, et al. Mol Cell Proteomics. 2007 Aug 20; [Epub ahead of print].

Liver derived endogenous opioids may interfere with the therapeutic effect of interferon in chronic hepatitis C. Bergasa NV, Boyella VD. Med Hypotheses. 2007 Aug 8; [Epub ahead of print].

Elevated Serum Levels of Interferon- gamma -Inducible Protein-10 in Patients Coinfected with Hepatitis C Virus and HIV. Roe B, et al. J Infect Dis. 2007 Oct 1;196(7):1053-7. Epub 2007 Aug 21.

Baseline serum hepatitis C virus (HCV) RNA level and response at week 4 are the best predictors of relapse after treatment with pegylated interferon plus ribavirin in HIV/HCV-coinfected patients. Núñez M, et al. J Acquir Immune Defic Syndr. 2007 Aug 1;45(4):439-44.

Pathogenesis of hepatitis C virus coinfection in the brains of patients infected with HIV. Letendre S, et al. J Infect Dis. 2007 Aug 1;196(3):361-70.

Natural History of Compensated Viral Cirrhosis in a Cohort of Patients With Human Immunodeficiency Virus Infection. Bruno R, et al. J Acquir Immune Defic Syndr. 2007 Aug 2;Publish Ahead of Print [Epub ahead of print].

Role of Weight-Based Ribavirin Dosing and Extended Duration of Therapy in Chronic Hepatitis C in HIV-Infected Patients: The PRESCO Trial. Núñez M, et al. AIDS Res Hum Retroviruses. 2007 Aug;23(8):972-82.

HCV/HIV co-infection, HCV viral load and mode of delivery: risk factors for mother-to-child transmission of hepatitis C virus? Mariné-Barjoan E, et al. AIDS. 2007 Aug 20;21(13):1811-1815.

Nutrients intake and the risk of hepatocellular carcinoma in Italy. Polesel J, et al. Eur J Cancer. 2007 Aug 22; [Epub ahead of print]

Stronger Neo-Minophagen C, a glycyrrhizin-containing preparation, protects liver against carbon tetrachloride-induced oxidative stress in transgenic mice expressing the hepatitis C virus polyprotein. Hidaka I, et al. Liver Int. 2007 Aug;27(6):845-53.

Cause-specific excess mortality in siblings of patients co-infected with HIV and hepatitis C virus. Hansen AB, et al. PLoS ONE. 2007 Aug 15;2:e738.

Information from the Internet and the doctor-patient relationship: the patient perspective - a qualitative study. Stevenson FA, Kerr C, Murray E, Nazareth I. BMC Fam Pract. 2007 Aug 16;8(1):47 [Epub ahead of print]

Epidemiological characteristics and medical follow-up of 61 patients with acute hepatitis C identified through the hepatitis C surveillance system in France. Brouard C, et al. Epidemiol Infect. 2007 Aug 16;:1-9 [Epub ahead of print]

Effects of a brief educational program on knowledge and willingness to accept treatment among patients with hepatitis C at inner-city hospitals. Gupta K, Romney D, Briggs M, Benker K. J Community Health. 2007 Aug;32(4):221-30.

End-Stage Liver Disease in a State Prison Population. Baillargeon J, et al. Ann Epidemiol. 2007 Aug 4; [Epub ahead of print].

Evaluating the impact of public health notification of suspected transfusion-transmissible hepatitis C virus infection and effectiveness of lookback and traceback investigations by Canadian Blood Services in British Columbia, Canada, August 2002 through February 2005. Whitlock M, Lord S, Buxton JA, Doyle P, Bigham M. Transfusion. 2007 Aug;47(8):1534-9.

A health economic model to assess the cost-effectiveness of PEG IFN alpha-2a and ribavirin in patients with mild chronic hepatitis C. Gerkens S, et al. J Viral Hepat. 2007 Aug;14(8):523-36.

Hepatitis C in psychiatry inpatients: testing rates, prevalence and risk behaviours. Lacey C, Ellen S, Devlin H, Wright E, Mijch A. Australas Psychiatry. 2007 Aug;15(4):315-9.

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viral infection in the U.S.

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