Current status of antiviral therapy for chronic HCV infection in China

Abstract

Abstract: Objective To investigate the current usage of antiviral therapy in Chinese chronic hepatitis C population.Methods Patients with chronic hepatitis C virus (HCV) infection who visited our department from July 2017 to March 2019 were enrolled. Clinical characteristics and options of antiviral therapy were collected and then analyzed according to current international practice guidelines. Results A total of 165 patients were included, among which 15% (25/165) hadn′t started treatment. Almost 5% (8/165) of them were treated with polyglycol interferon combined ribavirin therapy. The proportions of patients treated with genotype-specific and pan-genotypic direct-acting antiviral agents (DAAs) were 27% (44/165) and 51% (85/165), respectively. Although sofosbuvir/velpatasvir is most popular among patients with all genotypes, genotype-specific DAAs (40%) were used more favorably than pan-genotypic DAAs (7%) among genotype 1b population due to efficacy, safety and most importantly price.Conclusion Pan-genotypic DAAs are recognized as the first-line treatment options among chronic hepatitis C population. Treatment cost, other than efficacy and safety, takes a big part in treatment option.

Key words: Hepatitis C, Antiviral therapy, Direct-acting antiviral agents

LU Jie, CHEN Li-chang, ZHOU Hui-juan, XIE Qing, LIN Lan-yi. Current status of antiviral therapy for chronic HCV infection in China[J]. Chinese Hepatolgy, 2019, 24(11): 1230-1233.

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