FDA approves new HBV viral load test

Abbott announced today it has received approval from the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) to market the Abbott RealTime HBV assay for measuring viral load or the amount of hep B virus (HBV) in a patient's blood. It is the first and only approved test capable of automating HBV viral load testing from sample extraction to final results. The Abbott RealTime HBV assay, based on real-time PCR (polymerase chain reaction) technology, is now available for laboratories that use the Abbott m2000 automated instrument system for molecular diagnostic testing. The test offers sensitive measurement (quantitation) of HBV in human plasma or serum from individuals chronically infected with HBV. The assay is intended for use as an aid in the management of patients with chronic HBV infection undergoing anti-viral therapy.CLICK HERE TO GO TO ORIGINAL NEWS SOURCE>>

                                   

Aussie students exposed

A group of southern Tasmanian high school students have undergone tests for possible blood-borne viruses after a teacher decided to take blood tests from a class a month ago. Eighteen Grade 9 and 10 students were attempting to test the PH levels of their blood in the class experiment. The science teacher made an attempt to sterilise the needle with methylated spirits between tests. Dr Roscoe Taylor, Director of Public Health said methylated spirits would not prevent the transmission of HIV or Hepatitis B or C. "This is an incident that should not have happened," he said. Education Minister Lin Thorp said the full cost of testing the children for viruses will be covered by the Education Department. CLICK HERE TO GO TO ORIGINAL NEWS SOURCE>>

                              

65% of 2nd time round geno 1s cured

65% of people whose prior treatment for hep C was unsuccessful achieved viral cure with Telaprevir-based treatment. Vertex Pharmaceuticals has announced that 65% of people overall achieved viral cure with a telaprevir-based regimen in the REALIZE study, as compared to 17% of people in the control arm who received pegylated-interferon and ribavirin alone. REALIZE is the only phase 3 hep C study to date of a direct-acting antiviral therapy that was designed to evaluate all major subgroups of people whose prior treatment was unsuccessful, including those who had a null response. CLICK HERE TO GO TO ORIGINAL NEWS SOURCE>>

                             

No NSP - more hep C

Sharing of dirty needles by Victoria's injecting-drug users — a practice that contributes to the spread hepatitis C and HIV — increased substantially after the city's only fixed needle exchange closed in 2008, according to a study by the University of Victoria's Centre for Addictions Research. Overall, participants in Victoria reported sharing needles more often than those in Vancouver, where there are several fixed needle exchanges. Needle sharing increased in Victoria to 23 per cent in late 2009 from 10 per cent in early 2008. Rates of needle sharing in Vancouver remained below 11 per cent over the same period. The report, called Drug Use Trends in Victoria and Vancouver, recommends reinstating at least one fixed-site needle exchange in Victoria along with mobile exchanges as part of a comprehensive range of services. It also calls for immediate abolishment of the current no-go zone for mobile distribution of needles in downtown Victoria so that they can be distributed where most needed. CLICK HERE TO GO TO ORIGINAL NEWS SOURCE>>

                        

Retiring chimps

Flo the chimpanzee bounds about her enclosure, hurls a rubber ball then stares quizzically at the New Mexico green chili pepper that will be her morning snack. It has been a long time since Flo was on exhibit at the Memphis Zoo, even longer since she learned to smoke cigarettes during a stint with the circus. Most recently, she was a research chimpanzee here in New Mexico, part of an expansive biomedical testing program for hepatitis C. Flo and the 185 other chimpanzees who live at the Alamogordo Primate Facility at Holloman Air Force Base have not been research subjects for nearly a decade — part of an agreement between the National Institutes of Health and the military, which prohibits using the animals for biomedical tests on the base. But recently, the health institute decided it wanted to use the chimp colony for medical research again, primarily to help develop the elusive hepatitis C vaccine. This past June, the institute began shipping some of the animals by special trucks to the Southwest National Primate Research Center in San Antonio and plans on moving the remaining chimpanzees by the end of 2011. The move has spurred outrage among animal rights advocates, primate experts and politicians, who say the chimpanzees — many of them middle-aged and elderly — should get to live out the rest of their lives in peace after years of invasive research. CLICK HERE TO GO TO ORIGINAL NEWS SOURCE>>

                                

Alcohol and obesity liver toll

Binge drinking and obesity are fuelling a surge in deaths from liver disease, UK experts have warned. The number of lives claimed by damaged, diseased and worn-out livers has soared by 60 per cent in only a decade. Liver disease, including cancer, claimed 9,719 lives in England in 2008 - up from 6,058 ten years earlier, a report by MPs says today. The fifth biggest killer, it is the only one that is claiming more lives year after year. Soaring rates of binge drinking, obesity and the viral disease hep C mean the number of deaths is predicted to double in only 20 years. Alcohol is 75 per cent cheaper now in real terms than in 1980. Heavy drinking can inflame the liver, causing jaundice, and leading to comas and even death. CLICK HERE TO GO TO ORIGINAL NEWS SOURCE>>

                             

Genetic test predicts treatment result

Doctors at Austin Health have developed a genetic test that can predict how people with hep C are likely to respond to treatment. Gastroenterologist Dr Paul Froomes said he approached microbiologist Dr Volker Gurtler to devise the genetic test nine months ago after breakthrough studies in Switzerland and the US found hep C patients who had the polymorphic gene rs12979860 responded significantly better to the drugs. “If you’re positive for this genetic test, then your chance of eradicating hep C with current treatment goes up to about 80%,” Dr Froomes said. “If you tested negative for this polymorphism, then your chance of responding to treatment falls to 30%.” He said patients who found they had a lower success rate to treatment could consider trying alternative new treatments. He said new treatments for hep C were “just around the corner”. CLICK HERE TO GO TO ORIGINAL NEWS SOURCE>>

                       

Bats may help fight hep C

A virus related to hep C, found in Asian bats, could offer insights into the origins of hep C and into the mechanisms by which infectious diseases move from other species to humans, according to researchers. Viruses related to hep C, known as GB-viruses, have previously been found only in primates. Now, using cutting-edge molecular techniques, an international team of investigators has identified a GB-virus in Pteropus giganteus bats in Bangladesh. Bats are often important hosts for emerging infectious disease agents with significant impact on human health including rabies, ebola, Marburg, hendra, nipah, and SARS viruses. "Finding this novel virus in bats significantly broadens the host range of GB-like agents and may provide insights into the origins of hep C," added Dr Thomas Briese, lead molecular biologist on the team. CLICK HERE TO GO TO ORIGINAL NEWS SOURCE>>

 

Hep B teen dies after black magic

A mother of a 14-year-old Mumbai boy handed over her son, who was suffering from jaundice, to a local tantrik. The tantrik said that some spirits had entered the boy's body and he could be cured through black magic. The treatment, however, ended with the teenager's death. The baba, under the pretext of ridding his body of the spirits, allegedly beat him with bamboos and sticks and made him sleep on a cold floor all through Monday night. On Tuesday morning, he was rushed to Sion hospital in a critical condition. He died on Wednesday evening. Since the last three years, Anand has been staying in the school hostel in Ulhasnagar. "Anand was a bright student and he was sent home by the school on Saturday after his health deteriorated. As his fever rose, the local tantrik was called in,'' said Rubina Shaikh, who knows Anand's family. The tantrik reportedly told Anand's mother Shashikala that 11 spirits had entered his body and can only be removed by black magic. CLICK HERE TO GO TO ORIGINAL NEWS SOURCE>>

                                 

Hep C discoverer gets new chair

Michael Houghton is the new Canada Excellence Research Chair in Virology. Building on the knowledge he gained while making his breakthrough discovery of the virus that causes hep C, and his identification of the hepatitis D viral genome, Canada Excellence Research Chair in Virology Michael Houghton will work to develop low-cost prophylactic vaccines against hep C, and therapeutic vaccines against hep B. Through experimental trials using chimeric mice with human liver, as well as through woodchuck infection models, Houghton hopes to improve current hep B treatment methods and significantly reduce how long treatment takes. Another major focus of Houghtons work will be using his experience in virus discovery to investigate a potential infectious basis for various human diseases that have so far remained uncharacterized. CLICK HERE TO GO TO ORIGINAL NEWS SOURCE>>

                                  

Irish Blood Bank shout out

Are you a Rh negative woman who had a child or miscarriage in Ireland between 1977-1979 or 1991-1994? If so the Irish Blood Transfusion Service would like to speak to you. The Irish Blood Transfusion Service (IBTS) are currently in the final stages of tracing all untested recipients of infectious Anti-D in risk years. Are you a Rh negative women who had a child or miscarriage in Ireland between 1977-1979 & 1991-1994? If so the IBTS would like to speak to you. CLICK HERE FOR MORE DETAILS>>

                         

Babool bark for liver cancer

Researchers at Banaras Hindu University claim to have developed a drug  that could be a potential cure for liver  cancer from the extract of the bark of Acacia nilotica tree, commonly known as babool. The tests on rats have shown encouraging results, said BHU sources. The study which has continued for almost four years in the Mycology and Plant Pathology Department of the BHU is supervised by Professor H B Singh. The findings of the study had been published last year in the premier online US journal — Chemico-Biological Interactions. Dr Brahma Nand Singh, a member of the research team, has now been invited to work with renowned cancer research scientist Professor Shi Wen Jiang at the Department of Bio-medicine (Savannah), USA. He will now embark on research on the role of babool in cancer therapy by reactivating tumor suppressor genes at various stage of the disease. Singh said they found that Indian Babool can prevent hepatocellular carcinoma, also called liver cancer. H B Singh said, “It’s a path-breaking finding among cancer studies. For the first time, our research has established a link between babool phytomolecules and cancer prevention.” CLICK HERE TO GO TO ORIGINAL NEWS SOURCE>>

                          

Egypt officials reject hep estimates

A new study estimates that around half a million people in Egypt are infected annually with hep C - far more than any country in the world - and that one in every ten people in Egypt is a HCV carrier. An important reason for the high incidence rate is the huge level of infection in the blood supply in Egypt, suggested Laith Abu-Raddad, a co-author of the study. "Much more transmission is likely to happen in Egypt because the background prevalence is about 20 times higher [than other countries]," he said. However, the study's findings have been rejected by the country's Ministry of Health. Wahid Doss, director of the Egyptian National Committee on Viral Hepatitis said the figure published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences online last week (9 August) was highly exaggerated. "According to our most recent survey, there are only some 100,000 new cases of hepatitis C every year," he told local newspaper Al-Masry Al-Youm. But Abu-Raddad, who is an assistant professor in public health at Weill Cornell Medical College, Qatar, said he had anticipated the government's rejection of the study's conclusions. "Usually whenever a result is politically sensitive, the study is rejected," he said. Egyptian officials admitted that country-wide field studies had not been conducted as they would require huge human resources. CLICK HERE TO GO TO ORIGINAL NEWS SOURCE>>

                         

Hep C tests in chemist shops

UK pharmacy screening for hep C could help thousands who may unknowingly be at risk from liver disease and cancer, experts have claimed. Around 70,000 people in England and Wales have been diagnosed with hep C. It is estimated half a million people in the UK could have contracted the disease without even realising it. A pilot screening scheme involving 19 pharmacies picked up a much higher rate of people with the virus than screenings carried out by GPs. One in six people tested in the pharmacies came back positive for hep C, which can be transmitted through infected blood, or hep B, which can also be transmitted through bodily fluids. The Royal Pharmaceutical Society and the Hepatitis C Trust are now calling for more screenings nationwide. CLICK HERE TO GO TO ORIGINAL NEWS SOURCE>>

                            

Time for Drug War peace pipe

War on drugs: Bring out the peace pipe. Sir Ian Gilmore is a distinguished physician. Nicholas Green is a leading barrister. Pillars of society, they share a radical opinion: they believe drugs should be decriminalised – not from any dogmatic position but from their own experience in medicine and the law. Sir Ian, a liver specialist and the outgoing president of the Royal College of Physicians, told the BBC that current policy aggravated the harms associated with drug abuse and cited approvingly a BMJ article by Stephen Rolles of the pro-legalisation organisation Transform. In June Mr Green suggested that if the government was serious about cutting the prison population it should consider decriminalising individual drug use. When the UN first sounded the alarm about the global drugs trade in 1961, it warned of the threat it posed to the world's health. It was President Nixon, swiftly backed in Britain, who converted the concern into a moral crusade. His war on drugs, both nationally and internationally, has caused harm that far exceeds the unquestionable damage of drug abuse. In ripples and surges from Mexico's catastrophic turf wars to gangland murders in Detroit and drive-by shootings in Birmingham, civil society is undermined and in places destroyed by the profitable lawlessness of the illegal drugs trade. It is time to sue for peace. This is a global war, and ultimately it needs a global solution. The first step has to be to acknowledge that the moral evil is drug trafficking, not drug abuse. The best way to undermine the traffickers is to tackle demand for their product. And as part of holistic policy that has to tackle wellbeing more widely, decriminalising individual drug use would be a good start. Portugal, where drug use was decriminalised nearly 10 years ago, is showing the way. Its evidence suggests the most persuasive argument against changing policy – that it would increase the numbers abusing drugs – is baseless. There has been no significant increase in drug use, while take-up of treatments has increased and health has improved. Politicians could prepare public opinion for change by a public assessment of what Britain's war on drugs has achieved. It should ask whether better results could have come by a less damaging route. A policy that results, via the Afghanistan poppy harvest, in financial support for the Taliban, boosts international organised crime and is the underlying problem for more than half of the UK prison population will require some defending. Decriminalisation would not be an answer in itself. Legalisation is no quick fix. But prohibition's defenders need to show how, against its dire results, their policy can still be justified. CLICK HERE TO GO TO ORIGINAL NEWS SOURCE>

                    

Hep Chinese allowed to teach

Hepatitis virus carriers in Beijing will be able to work as kindergarten teachers in the future, as authorities have cancelled restrictions against them. The Beijing Municipal Health Bureau and Beijing Municipal Commission of Education jointly issued a notice expunging the rule that hepatitis virus carriers of all types were not suitable to be engaged in preschool education. In 2001, that limitation was added to the physical examination standards for teachers' qualification confirmations. "This means hepatitis virus carriers will be treated equally," said Zhao Guowei, a publicity department officer from the education commission. "They were not allowed to teach kindergarten children before." CLICK HERE TO GO TO ORIGINAL NEWS SOURCE>>

                         

Kerry takes aim at hepatitis

Viral hepatitis sufferers may soon get aid from the federal government as a result of a new bill filed by Sen. John Kerry on Thursday that aims to spot the disease before it can turn into liver cancer. Heps B and C contribute to the death of 15,000 Americans every year, but currently health centers receive no money from the federal government to manage this problem, a statement from Kerry said. This bill, the Viral Hepatitis and Liver Cancer Control and Prevention Act of 2010, would expand surveillance, screening and educational programs for the disease. It would also fund immunization and help those already diagnosed with the disease receive proper care. CLICK HERE TO GO TO ORIGINAL NEWS SOURCE>>

                  

Money fix for St Kilda NSP

Ongoing funding will be provided for Victoria's only 24-hour needle-exchange service, in St Kilda, and to expand its operation to provide more health services for injecting drug users. The service provided 1 million needles to 54,000 clients last financial year, and its around-the-clock operation began as a pilot program in late 2007. But the state government yesterday announced $2.2 million every four years for the 24-hour service to continue permanently, and to expand its work to provide on-site health services including to prevent and treat hep C. CLICK HERE TO GO TO ORIGINAL NEWS SOURCE>>

                    

Call for prison tattoo parlours

Scottish prisoners would have access to their own tattoo parlour under proposals being considered by officials. A report commissioned by the Scottish prison service has found widespread problems with infections such as hep C partly because inmates are tattooing each other without the appropriate equipment. The study recommends the “piloting of a tattoo studio within one of the long-stay prisons”. Dona Milne, the author who was seconded to the Scottish Government at the time, suggests there is a need to increase prisoner education on tattooing risks, make available clean materials and where possible consider introducing tattooing parlours. The prison service is still considering the proposal.
CLICK HERE TO GO TO ORIGINAL NEWS SOURCE>>

                                     

Richie Hayward dies

Little Feat co-founder Richie Hayward has died after a long battle with liver disease. he was 64. Hayward played drums in the seminal band throughout its entire career. Lowell George and Hayward co-founded Little Feat in 1969 along with Bill Payne and Roy Estrada. They established a distinctive style of improvisational southern rock that mixed elements of blues, rock boogie and funk. Little Feat officially parted ways in 1979 after George died of an accidental overdose. Hayward helped reform the band in 1987 and continued to play with the group until last year when health concerns prevented him touring. Hayward lived in British Columbia until his death. Hayward also played on recordings by such diverse artists as Eric Clapton, Warren Zevon, Travis Tritt, Robert Palmer, Tom Waits, Taj Mahal, Barbra Streisand, John Cale, Buddy Guy, Arlo Guthrie, Carly Simon, Bob Seger and many others. CLICK HERE TO GO TO ORIGINAL NEWS SOURCE>>

                                     

Tattoing increases hep C risk

Getting a tattoo can increase a person’s risk for contracting hep C (HCV) by nearly six times, according to a study published online July 31 in the International Journal of Infectious Diseases. The prevalence of tattoos in the United States has skyrocketed in the past few decades. Experts estimate that more than a third of adults younger than 30 now have tattoos. What was once socially daring has become commonplace for some age groups. Unfortunately, while tattooing may be more socially acceptable, it remains a serious health risk. Dr Siavash Jafari from the British Columbia Centre for Disease Control in Vancouver, and his colleagues found that the risk for acquiring HCV because of tattooing was actually greatest among non-IVDUs, where the risk for HCV infection was nearly six-fold higher among those with tattoos compared with those without tattoos. The next highest was among blood donors, with a nearly four-fold greater risk, followed by a nearly three-fold increased risk in IVDUs and prisoners. People were far more likely to acquire HCV from tattooing that occurred in non-professional tattoo parlors than in professional tattoo parlors. CLICK HERE TO GO TO ORIGINAL NEWS SOURCE>>

                     

Hunting for hep vaccine

Understanding how the immune system responds to hep C is crucial in developing a vaccine. An ongoing study by Andrew Lloyd and his team is hoping to shed light on this virus and its weaknesses. Professor Andrew Lloyd of the University of New South Wales is one of the central figures in the HITS study (Hepatitis C Incidence and Transmission Study) is a long-term prospective cohort study of eligible prison inmates in NSW. According to Lloyd, the ideal target population for a candidate hep C vaccine must be well characterised, with well-understood risk behaviours, and a high documented incidence as well as a good follow-up likelihood, so that the effects of the vaccine on incidence are easier to interpret and more significant. The success of hep C vaccine development also requires some knowledge of the protective immunity strategies used by the body against the virus. “For a start, about one in every three people will successfully clear the virus after infection. This is good, because it means that there is something that the host immune response can do to get rid of the virus. The bad news is that most of those people apparently remain susceptible and so can get reinfected. Lloyd has been looking at high-risk cohort members who remain uninfected. “These individuals have been using drugs, sharing needles and doing all the other high-risk behaviours for many years, but have no evidence whatsoever of the virus, by antibody testing and by PCR. And that is really a bit of a surprise,” he says. “From the vaccine aspect, this means that for some individuals you don’t need to induce de novo primary immunity, but rather to simply boost pre-existing immunity, and the characteristics of that naturally occurring immunity might provide a facsimile of what you might try to generate with a vaccine.” CLICK HERE TO GO TO ORIGINAL NEWS SOURCE>>

                  

EC launches hep C campaign

The European Commission will finance a hepatitis B and C and HIV/AIDS prevention campaign, Malta Independent writes. The H-Cube campaign will last 30 months. Eleven EU member states – Bulgaria, the Czech Republic, Cyprus, Greece, Hungary, Lithuania, Malta, Poland, Romania, Slovenia and Italy – will join it. The campaign is geared to the people aged between 15 and 24. CLICK HERE TO GO TO ORIGINAL NEWS SOURCE>>

                                  

Merck grants hep C gene licence

Merck has granted LabCorp a license to use the IL-28B (Lambda gene) in a commercial test to help predict a patient’s response to hep C combination treatment. Merck will receive an up-front fee from LabCorp plus royalties on sales of tests covered under the deal. LabCorp has already developed an in vitro assay to identify the IL-28B polymporphism in HCV patients. An association between the polymorphism and peginterferon alpha response was identified by Merck and collaborating scientists through a genome-wide association study of nearly 1,700 HCV genotype-1 patients, the firm points out. The IL-28B link with HCV therapy identified through the Ideal study was first reported last year. Merck says it plans to provide a limited number of nonexclusive licenses to the IL-28B polymorphism to established diagnostics companies. Click here to view two Lambda gene research article (The Hep Review, ED67, page 53).  CLICK HERE TO GO TO ORIGINAL NEWS SOURCE>>

                             

Depression overlooked during treatment

Researchers from Denmark, Sweden, Norway and Finland (the NORDynamIC project group) have observed that depressive symptoms in patients with hep C are commonly overlooked in routine clinical interviews, and that treatment-induced depression compromises the outcome of hep C therapy. The standard treatment for chronic hep C is weekly injections of peg-interferon in combination with daily oral ribavirin for 24 to 48 weeks. However, this combination treatment can lead to major depression or other psychiatric complications in a number of patients which may require premature termination of the antiviral therapy. Peter Leutscher and colleagues estimated the value of routine medical interviews in diagnosing depression in patients on peg-interferon/ribavirin therapy using the Major Depression Inventory (MDI). The MDI is a self-rating depression scale used to diagnose major depression and measure depression severity. Of the 325 hep C patients enrolled in the study, 6% were observed with major depression at baseline. Among the remaining 306 patients, 37% (n=114) developed depression while on combination therapy. "According to the MDI criteria, we found that only 32% of the 114 patients with major depression were correctly diagnosed during routine medical interviews," noted Dr. Leutscher. Researchers also noted that the emergence of major depression frequently led to premature discontinuation of the peg-interferon/ribavirin therapy. CLICK HERE TO GO TO ORIGINAL NEWS SOURCE>>

                          

HCV survives for months

Hep C virus can remain viable for months in a liquid environment at low temperatures. Sandra Ciesek and colleagues looked at the infectivity, environmental stability, and susceptibility to chemical disinfectants of HCV grown in laboratory cell cultures. HCV infectivity in a liquid environment was detectable for up to 5 months at lower temperatures. Different alcohols and commercially available antiseptics reduced HCV to undetectable levels. Diluting hand disinfectants reduced their virucidal activity. The researchers noted that the risk of HCV infection may not be accurately gauged by determining HCV RNA levels, since viral infectivity and viral load copy numbers did not directly correlate. The results, they suggested, "should be useful in defining rigorous disinfection protocols to prevent nosocomial transmission of HCV" in healthcare settings. The study was published in Journal of Infectious Diseases (15 June 2010). CLICK HERE TO GO TO ORIGINAL NEWS SOURCE>>