Teresa L. Wright – 10 February 2006 – Recommendations for treatment of hepatitis C in patients with cirrhosis are difficult. Few prospective studies have focused on treatment of patients with advanced disease, and response rates appear to be lower and serious side effects more frequent in patients with cirrhosis. In patients with compensated cirrhosis, combination therapy with interferon alfa (3 million units [MU] 3 times a week) and ribavirin (1,000 or 1,200 mg/d) results in a sustained virological response (SVR) in 33% to 41% of patients.

Norah A. Terrault – 10 February 2006 – The accumulated evidence indicates that hepatitis C virus (HCV) can be transmitted by sexual contact but much less efficiently than other sexually transmitted viruses, including hepatitis B virus and human immunodeficiency virus (HIV). However, because sex is such a common behavior and the reservoir of HCV‐infected individuals is sizable, sexual transmission of HCV likely contributes to the total burden of infection in the United States. Risk of HCV transmission by sexual contact differs by the type of sexual relationship.

10 February 2006

Kelly A. Gebo, H. Franklin Herlong, Michael S. Torbenson, Mollie W. Jenckes, Geetanjali Chander, Khalil G. Ghanem, Samer S. El‐Kamary, Mark Sulkowski, Eric B. Bass – 10 February 2006 – This systematic review addresses 2 questions pertinent to the need for pretreatment liver biopsy in patients with chronic hepatitis C: how well do liver biopsy results predict treatment outcomes for chronic hepatitis C? How well do biochemical blood tests and serologic measures of fibrosis predict the biopsy findings in chronic hepatitis C?

Eve A. Roberts, Latifa Yeung – 10 February 2006 – Mother‐to‐infant transmission of hepatitis C virus (HCV) is comparatively uncommon. The prevalence of antibody to HCV (anti‐HCV) in pregnant women is 0.1% to 2.4%, although in some endemic areas it is much higher. The proportion of women with anti‐HCV who have active infection with viremia is 60% to 70%. Transmission of HCV occurs only when serum HCV RNA is detectable and may be related to higher levels (above 106 copies per mL). The rate of mother‐to‐infant transmission is 4% to 7% per pregnancy in women with HCV viremia.

John G. McHutchison, Keyur Patel – 10 February 2006 – Currently available therapies for the treatment of chronic hepatitis C are effective in half of patients, but are expensive, often poorly tolerated, and unsuitable for certain patients populations. The ideal therapy would be highly effective, orally bioavailable, have minimal side effects, be cost effective, and suitable for the majority of patients with hepatitis C.

W. Ray Kim – 10 February 2006 – According to the third National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (NHANES), 3.9 million of the U.S. civilian population have been infected with hepatitis C virus (HCV), of whom 2.7 million (74%) have chronic infection. Hepatitis C virus infection is most common among non‐Caucasian men, ages 30 to 49 years. Moreover, the prevalence of antibody to hepatitis C virus in groups not represented in the NHANES sample, such as the homeless or incarcerated, may be as high as 40%.

10 February 2006

10 February 2006

10 February 2006