Novel Hepatitis E Vaccine Protects for at Least a Decade
A three-dose vaccine regimen prevented hepatitis E virus (HEV) infections with high efficacy in adults over the course of 10 years, a phase III trial from China found. The HEV239 vaccine, sold under the name Hecolin outside the U.S., had an efficacy rate of 83.1% (95% CI 69.4-91.4) in the study’s modified intention-to-treat analysis and […]
CDC Backs Hepatitis C Screening for Kids Exposed in the Womb
The CDC released new recommendations for hepatitis C virus (HCV) screening among perinatally exposed infants and children. The four new recommendations detailed in the MMWR Recommendations and Reports are as follows: All perinatally exposed infants should be screened for HCV with a nucleic acid test (NAT) for detection of HCV RNA at ages 2 to […]
Ukraine’s Mobile Medical Teams Duck Rockets
VIENNA — After 20 years of battling an epidemic of HIV and hepatitis fueled by injection drug use, Tetiana Deshko, PhD, woke up February 24, 2022, to a whole new challenge as director of the Kyiv-based Alliance for Public Health, Ukraine — providing services to a country torn apart by invading Russian forces and bombers. […]
Screen All Adults for Hepatitis B, CDC Says
All adults should be tested for a hepatitis B virus (HBV) infection at least once in their lifetime, and a wider range should get periodic retesting, according to new CDC recommendations. The report recommended moving from a risk-based approach to a universal approach in order to increase awareness of infection and reduce chronic disease and […]
Extra Hep B Vaccine Dose Exceeds Expectations for People With HIV
WASHINGTON — Three doses of hepatitis B vaccine with a cytosine phosphoguanine adjuvant (HepB-CpG; Heplisav-B) notched a perfect mark when it came to seroprotection for people with HIV who had never before been vaccinated against the hepatitis B virus (HBV), early results of a phase III trial showed. At 28 weeks, the three doses yielded […]
Hepatitis A Demographics Shift Dramatically
Hepatitis A is no longer mainly a travel and food-related infection, as the majority of infections from 2016 to 2020 related to drug use or homelessness, according to the CDC. Fully 56% of hepatitis A infected persons in the U.S. were using drugs (injected or not), 14% were homeless, and 12% were recently incarcerated in […]
Bictegravir-Based Treatment Wins for HIV/HBV Co-Infections
MONTREAL — For individuals infected by both HIV and hepatitis B virus (HBV), the choice of which virus-suppressing therapy to use can make a difference in outcomes, according to 48-week results of the phase III ALLIANCE results reported here. In a head-to-head comparison, fixed doses of either bictegravir, emtricitabine, and tenofovir alafenamide (Biktarvy) or dolutegravir, […]
Is Hepatitis C Contagious? How Do You Get It?
Hepatitis C Symptoms Most people with hepatitis C or hep C have no symptoms when they contract the infection. Those that do have symptoms of hep C infection may experience abdominal pain. fatigue, fever, joint pains, loss of appetite nausea, poor appetite, and vomiting. Read more about hepatitis C symptoms » Is hepatitis C contagious? […]
Relapse Patterns in Chronic Hep B After Halting Treatment
Chronic hepatitis B patients who discontinued tenofovir disoproxil fumarate (TDF, Viread) after achieving viral suppression had higher rates of clinical relapse compared to those who stopped entecavir, a global retrospective study found. At 6 and 24 months, clinical relapse rates after stopping TDF grew from 31% to 58%, which was significantly higher than after entecavir […]
Better Outcomes Tied to More HCV Treatment for People Who Inject Drugs
A greater uptake in hepatitis C virus (HCV) treatment for people who inject drugs (PWID) at a community center led to decreases in liver disease and mortality, a longitudinal cohort study found. Among 1,323 PWID with chronic HCV at a Baltimore community-based center, the number of those with HCV RNA declined from 100% in 2006 […]