HEPATITIS C VIRUS

Hepatitis C Virus was identified in 1989 as the major cause of post-transfusion and Non-A, Non-B hepatitis. The virus is spread via blood bourne transmission and in the majority of individuals exposed to the virus the infection becomes persistent or chronic.

 There are 170 million people worldwide who have chronic hepatitis C virus infection. Only a small proportion of the infected population has been diagnosed and treated but this is rapidly increasing as public awareness of the problem grows.

Chronic HCV infection relentlessly induces liver fibrosis and, in 30% of cases, cirrhosis leading to death through liver cancer or liver failure.

Today the treatment options are limited to pegylated interferons in combination with Ribavirin and these are only effective in approximately 50% of patients. Treatment is prolonged and invariably associated with severe side effects, leading to premature withdrawal from therapy and poor patient compliance.

Much new therapeutic development work around the world is focussed on drugs that directly inhibit viral replication. However, it is clear from a number of lines of scientific evidence that anti-virals alone will not eliminate HCV. Viral inhibition needs to be combined with support for the patients’ own immune response in order to clear the virus and the cells that it infects.