Published in Journal of viral hepatitis
Hepatitis C virus (HCV) infection remains commoner in patients with chronic kidney disease (CKD) than the population at large1 . In the hemodialysis (HD) population HCV infection in part reflects acquisition of infection within dialysis units where its transmission can be effectively prevented by meticulous attention to body fluid precautions 2 . A...
Published in Journal of viral hepatitis
Understanding local viral hepatitis and HIV epidemiology is essential if WHO elimination targets are to be achieved. We demonstrate a consistently high prevalence of undiagnosed active infection in urban emergency department attendees in England, with variations in local risk groups crucial to informing targeted testing initiatives. © The Authors. ...
Published in Journal of viral hepatitis
The World Health Organization (WHO) recently produced guidelines advising a treat-all policy for HCV to encourage widespread treatment scale-up for achieving HCV elimination. We modelled the prevention impact achieved (HCV infections averted [IA]) from initiating this policy compared with treating different subgroups at country, regional, and globa...
Published in Journal of viral hepatitis
The World Health Organization and the German government have announced an initiative to eliminate chronic hepatitis C until the year 2030. To reach this goal, one important step is adequate screening and detection of so far undiagnosed infections. The most common initial test is anti-HCV. This parameter was extra-budgetary reimbursed by statuary he...
Published in Journal of viral hepatitis
There is still some controversy over a potentially increased short-term risk of developing hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) after the initiation of direct-acting antiviral (DAA) therapy, even though a decreased long-term risk of HCC has been reported following a sustained virological response in patients with chronic hepatitis C virus (HCV) infection...
Published in Journal of viral hepatitis
An estimated 9 million individuals are chronically infected with hepatitis B virus (HBV) and hepatitis C virus (HCV) across the European Union/European Economic Area (EU/EEA), many of which are yet to be diagnosed. We performed a systematic review to identify interventions effective at improving testing offer and uptake in the EU/EEA. Original rese...
Published in Journal of viral hepatitis
Transmission of hepatitis E virus (HEV) through transfusion of blood components has already been reported in several European countries. Here, we assessed the HEV prevalence in Flemish blood donors. This study is of importance in order to assess the risk of HEV transmission through blood transfusion. We analyzed 38,137 blood donation samples that w...
Published in Journal of viral hepatitis
Molecular epidemiological analysis of viral pathogens can identify factors associated with increased transmission risk. We investigated the frequency of genetic clustering in a large dataset of NS34A, NS5A, and NS5B viral sequences from patients with chronic hepatitis C virus (HCV) genotypes 1-6 infection. Within a subset of patients with longitudi...
Published in Journal of viral hepatitis
Blood transfusion is one of the most commonly relied upon therapies in sub-Saharan Africa. Existing safeguards recommended include systematic screening for transfusion-transmitted infections and restricted voluntary nonremunerated blood donor selection. We report the transfusion-transmitted infection screening and notification practice at a large u...
Published in Journal of viral hepatitis
