NY-Presbyterian/Columbia reports laparoscopic living donor liver retrieval for adults

A team of surgeons at NewYork-Presbyterian/Columbia University Medical Center is the first in the country to report a fully laparoscopic hepatectomy - the removal of a portion of the liver - from a living adult donor for adult and teenage recipients. The procedure advances transplant surgery and offers hope for addressing the significant shortage of liver donors.

Treating HCV genotypes 2 and 3 in HIV/HCV co-infected people

People co-infected with HIV and HCV, mostly with hepatitis C virus (HCV) genotype 3, responded about as well as HIV-negative people to interferon-based therapy after taking into account other factors associated with poor treatment response, according to an Italian study presented at the 53rd Interscience Conference on Antimicrobial Agents and Chemotherapy (ICAAC) this month in Denver. Advanced liver fibrosis was common in the co-infected group, supporting the need for early treatment.

Hepatitis C screening should be expanded in Canada, study says

Incidents of the disease, a major cause of cirrhosis of the liver, remain underdiagnosed, undertreated say medical experts.

Karen Robson says it is only because of her family physician’s thoroughness that she found out she had Hepatitis C.

Achillion stock plunges as FDA maintains clinical hold on hep C drug

Achillion Pharmaceuticals Inc <ACHN.O> said the U.S. Food and Drug Administration decided not to lift a clinical hold it had placed on the firm's hepatitis C drug, sovaprevir, leaving an uncertain fate for the company's most promising drug.

The news caused Achillion's shares to plunge 45 percent in after-market trade on Friday.

'Tainted' tells story of Canada's blood scandal through affected family's eyes

TORONTO - It's been called one of the worst public health crises in Canadian history — the contaminated blood scandal that left more than 1,000 Canadians infected with HIV and another 30,000 with hepatitis C. Some contracted both.

Diagnosing early liver cancer with new test

Researchers have found a way to make early liver cancer show its true colors.

They have developed a test that will help pathologists clearly distinguish early liver cancer cells from nearly identical normal liver cells by giving them a distinctive red-brown hue.

Youths Fueling a Rise in Hepatitis C

An estimated four million Americans are currently infected with Hepatitis C, a viral infection of the liver that often leads to chronic liver disease. Making it a leading public health concern, chronic Hepatitis C is difficult to treat and can have devastating health consequences. An increase in awareness and testing for Hepatitis C had been responsible for a decline in new infections; however, an alarming new trend is behind a rise in newly acquired cases.

Simeprevir has been approved in Japan for the treatment of genotype 1 chronic hepatitis C infection

Stockholm, Sweden — Medivir AB (OMX: MVIR) today reports that Janssen Pharmaceutical R&D Ireland (Janssen) has been informed by the Japanese Ministry of Health, Labour and Welfare (MHLW) that simeprevir has been approved for the treatment of genotype 1 chronic hepatitis C virus (HCV) infection.

Patient, heal thyself: Solution to personalized treatment for chronic infections could lie in patient's own blood

A recent discovery by scientists at A*STAR's Singapore Institute for Clinical Sciences (SICS), in close collaboration with researchers at the Singapore Immunology Network (SIgN), provides hope for a new personalised treatment strategy that could use a patient's own blood to treat the infection. This could help treat millions of people living with chronic infections such as HIV, Hepatitis B or Hepatitis C. These findings were published in the August 2013 issue of The Journal of Clinical Investigation.

Specialists warn of a looming hepatitis C crisis

When Karen Robson was about to turn 40 earlier this year, her doctor ordered a battery of tests – including a blood test for hepatitis C. Robson, a Toronto-based sociologist, said she was shocked when the results confirmed that she had antibodies for hepatitis C. “I went into panic mode,” she said.

Update on Renewal of Viral Hepatitis Action Plan

As we announced this past May, federal partners are working to renew and extend the Action Plan for the Prevention, Care and Treatment of Viral Hepatitis for three more years. Since that announcement, several important activities have been undertaken and I wanted to share this update with readers.

Hepatitis yields a rainbow of symptoms

Hepatitis literally means inflammation of the liver (hepat-=liver; “itis”=inflammation). The liver is a hard-working, usually silent, warrior. The liver controls many body functions, processes proteins and fats, and stores glycogen. When it gets infected and inflamed, the complications come in a rainbow of colors and can be deadly. You have only one liver and you can’t live without it.

Does Hepatitis C Increase Osteoporosis Susceptibility?

A health condition that increases the likelihood of fracturing a bone, osteoporosis seems to be more prevalent in those with the Hepatitis C virus. Could it be a coincidence that osteoporosis typically affects those in their golden years and that baby boomers constitute a majority of Hepatitis C infections in the U.S.? Although experts disagree about the relationship between Hepatitis C and osteoporosis, a study cites how those with this common liver virus can protect against osteoporotic bones.

Drug therapy offers new hope to hepatitis C patients

A new drug regimen for liver transplant patients — tried for the first time ever at the University of Michigan Hospital — could bring hope to millions of hepatitis C suffers and the man who received the initial treatment has made it his mission to educate the public about the disease.

HIV warning for steroid injections

One in 10 men who inject themselves with anabolic steroids or tanning drugs have been exposed to HIV, hepatitis B or hepatitis C, according to a British study.

Public Health England (PHE) says the number of those who use image and performance-enhancing drugs has rapidly grown over the past 20 years.

CMS Invites Public Comment as it Considers National Coverage Determination for HCV Screening Under Medicare

The Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) has initiated a National Coverage Determination (NCD) process for screening for hepatitis C virus (HCV) in adults. An NCD is a national policy statement granting, limiting, or excluding Medicare coverage for a specific medical item or service.

Ireland: Northern Trust helpline set up as healthcare worker is diagnosed with Hepatitis C

The Northern Health and Social Care Trust has recently learned that a healthcare worker who worked in the Maternity & Gynaecology Department in Mid-Ulster Hospital only, from January to November 1979, has been diagnosed with Hepatitis C.

ABC Syringes: No More Reused Syringes!

Every year, scores of people get infected with various diseases because they were injected using unsterile and reused syringes. It’s unfortunate but it happens more often than you think. Case in point: according to the World Health Organization, 5% of all new HIV cases, 32% of all Hepatitis B cases, and 40%of Hepatitis C cases are caused by unsafe injections.

Wales - 5,500 patients offered tests over Hepatitis C fears

5,500 patients in several parts of Wales are being contacted by health boards this week, over fears that they may have been passed the Hepatitis C virus by a healthcare worker.

Obstetric and gynaecology patients will receive letters, offering them advice and a blood test for Hepatitis C.

U.S. Conference on AIDS 2013 – Highlights from Day 3

Some of yesterday’s highlights from the 2013 U.S. Conference on AIDS (USCA):

The Importance of Patient-Provider Conversations

Addressing a vital aspect of retention in HIV care during a plenary session, acclaimed photographer Duane Cramer and fashion designer Mondo Guerra from Project Runway—both of whom are living with HIV— highlighted the importance of continued open and meaningful communication among HIV patients and their healthcare providers.