Clinical trials to treat hepatitis C with new antiviral drugs had shown excellent results. “They are confirmed in real life”, underlined Pr Stanislas Pol (Cochin hospital, Paris) during the congress of the EASL (European Association for the Study of the Liver) where he presented a study carried out in people suffering from a cirrhosis because of their hepatitis C. “By giving 2 or 3 very recent antivirals, sometimes more ribavirin (an old antiviral), we now cure 95 and 100% of patients”, underlined this specialist. And this even in people whose disease was advanced. which had never been observed before.
Dramatic improvement in health
These cures, attested by the disappearance of the virus in the body, lead to a rapid improvement in the general condition. The treatment usually lasts 12 weeks and very quickly they regain the energy they had lost. “Many patients say they are experiencing a real rebirth, they see their fatigue disappear, they can resume their work”, says Professor Christophe Hézode (Henri-Mondor hospital, Créteil). It is estimated that 14,000 patients were treated in 2014 with these new treatments, reserved for serious cases because of their cost. But they cure a potentially serious chronic disease, since some end up needing a liver transplant.
Expensive treatments
“The authorities have chosen to treat serious cases with these expensive treatments. We could have done that of treating all the infected people who wish it with a cheaper treatment because negotiated because of the number ” noted Professor Stanislas Pol. More and more hepatologists believe that people infected with the hepatitis C virus but whose liver is still slightly diseased, could also benefit from treatment with new antivirals. Because even with a poorly affected liver (stage 1 fibrosis), harboring the hepatitis C virus seems to increase the risk of health problems, in particular because of the chronic inflammatory state that often results.
Read also
– Hepatitis C: 1 in 2 people have never been tested
– Hepatitis C: HAS defines the role of new treatments
– Hepatitis C: new therapies to cure it
