Wide Use of New HCV Drugs Prevents New Cases 'Treatment as prevention' possible

Unrestricted use of new direct-acting agents against hepatitis C (HCV) can markedly reduce the rate of new infections, a researcher said here. That's based on analysis of what happened in the Netherlands among gay men with both HIV and HCV when unlimited access to the new, highly effective agents was rolled out in 2015, according to Bart Rijnders, MD, PhD, of Erasmus University Medical Center in Rotterdam, the Netherlands. Uptake of the drugs was substantial and the rate of new HCV infections was cut in half, Rijnders told reporters at the annual Conference on Retroviruses and Opportunistic Infections (CROI). The study looked at a well-characterized cohort of men in HIV care, Rijnders said, but there's not reason to think the same effect would not apply to wider population. "It's an example of what is possible if you search for hepatitis C and treat it as soon as possible and you have the money and the drugs," Rijnders told MedPage Today. http://www.medpagetoday.com/MeetingCoverage/CROI/63242?xid=nl_mpt_Weekly_Education_2017-03-01&eun=g5883165d1r