An estimated 20 million Nigerians are infected with Hepatitis and about five million die annually. Hepatitis is not always in the news compared to other viral infections but many Nigerians loose their lives to the disease annually.
Hepatitis, is an inflammation of the liver due to the presence of toxic substances or infections caused by a protozoan parasite or viruses.
People affected by viral hepatitis usually recover, but some continue to carry the virus for many years and can spread the infection to others.
Researchers at Intermountain Medical Center in Murray have found a new ray of hope for patients with advanced liver disease due to the chronic viral infection.
Dr. Michael Charlton, director of the Liver Transplantation Program at Intermountain Medical Center Researchers at Intermountain Medical Center have found a new cure for these patients.
The cure is an all-oral treatment regimen of specific medications that results in high cure rates of hepatitis C virus infection in patients following treatment.
Dr Charlton said “During the study, liver function was seen to stabilize or improve in the great majority of patients following treatment,” said Dr. Charlton, who served as principal investigator of the ASTRAL-4 trial, a study between Intermountain Medical Center and some of the leading academic medical centers across the nation. The study included investigators at 50 sites throughout the United States and Puerto Rico.
“Although longer follow-up is needed, the ability to achieve a high cure rate of hepatitis C in patients with advanced liver disease — and the observation of early stabilization and improvement of liver function — raises the possibility of decreasing the number of patients with hepatitis C who need liver transplantation.”