Virginia A. Schad, PharmD, RPh

In Hong Kong, researchers found data from 49 studies that were conducted in 15 countries in patients with chronic hepatitis C and hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) or without HCC, which showed that overall, the sustained virologic response rate for direct-acting antiviral therapy was approximately 90%. In addition, they found that in patients with HCC who were treated with any sofosbuvir-based regimen had lower sustained viral response rates than the sustained viral response rates of patients without HCC who were treated with sofosbuvir-based regimens.

From a real-world study, researchers observed that patients with hepatitis C who received direct-acting antiviral medications did not experience significant changes in symptoms during treatment, except in 1346 patients who were cured and reported improvements in fatigue; sleep disturbance; and functional well-being, including pain and depression.

In Austria, researchers at the Medical University of Vienna found that hepatitis C virus eradication by direct-acing antivirals has increased the incidence of hepatic steatosis and controlled attenuation parameter based assessment measures, but they believe that more research is needed to discern whether these are clinically relevant outcomes.

Researchers found data that showed hepatitis C virus (HCV) genotype 3 is less sensitive to sofosbuvir than other HCV genotypes, and prior interferon therapy influences the therapeutic response.

Researchers found data from a large real-world pooled retrospective analysis in Taiwan that showed paritaprevir/ritonavir, ombitasvir, and dasabuvir with or without ribavirin is highly effective in chronic hepatitis C.

Data collected by the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention shows an increase in hepatitis A infections with most incidences occurring among homeless persons and drug users. To a small extent, some outbreaks were caused by imported food that was contaminated.

Data that were cross-referenced to monitor all-cause mortality between death records and laboratory diagnoses in the United Kingdom showed that liver disease is reduced once treatment for hepatitis C virus (HCV) infection is implemented, but researchers believe more research is needed to meet the World Health Organization’s global HCV elimination goal.

Researchers found data showing that long-term use of tenofovir disoproxil fumarate for hepatitis B virus was not effective, with a low HBeAg seroconversion rate, and that patients presented with a decrease in renal function and bone mineral density.