Suffering From Hepatitis C Liver Cirrhosis. Taking Pegasis And Rebiverin. Report Showing Viruses. Suggest Cure For The Virus?
I am XXXXXXX XXXXXXX i want to consult Gastroentrologist, sir my mother is suffering from Hepatitis c liver cirosis liver dieses . she was discovered genotype -3 , she was taking pegasis and rebiverin medicine for 6 month as per doctors advice , after six month viruses didn’t go again reports are showing viruses , now the doctors are saying that you have to take injection and medicine again for 1 year more , but there are saying that there is risk also in starting,
so that I want your advice that whether i can start the injection again or not ? is there is any side effect or risk to start the injection again.. before when doctors have cheked my mother to start injection it was every thing normal. If I do not start the injection again there is also problem the viruses will keep on damaging the liver , is there any way to cure this viruse ? recently I have listen about new medicine called Boceprevir And Telaprevir ? is this drug is available ? please advice what to do I start the medication or not ? please tell me as soon as possible . plz help me by giving your advice.
thankyou sir XXXXXXX XXXXXXX
Hepatitis C
Detailed Answer:
Hi Mr. XXXXXXX
Thanks for choosing health care magic for your query.
I have gone through your query and I want to explain few details regarding viral infection is one of the most common post transfusional hepatitis infections.
It causes a slowly progressive liver disease which affects the liver cells causing cirrhosis.
Diagnosis of Hepatitis C virus infection can be routinely done by detection of Anti HCV antibody ELISA test.
PCR for Hepatitis C viral RNA is confirmatory.
More than 6 genotypes of Hepatitis C have been described, but most common genotypes are 1,2 and 3.
Treatment for Hepatitis C infection:
The first line of treatment is Alfa Interferon (Pegasys) along with antiviral drugs like Ribavarin.
This treatment is given for 6 months to 1 year.
But the response to treatment must be monitored by PCR and liver function tests.
In your mother's case, she has been treated for 6 months but she is still positive for HCV PCR, so treatment has to be continued for a longer time. (upto 1 year)
Unfortunately only 50% show good response to therapy and many show relapse once the treatment is stopped.
Complete recovery is seen only in 20% cases.
The outcome of treatment depends on few factors mentioned below:
a) The patients age (more the age, poor the response)
b) Duration of infection (more than 10 years, response is poor)
c) The presence of cirrhosis before the treatment
d) High viral load (High viral load will require longer therapy)
e) HCV genotype (Genotypes 2 and 3 have better response compared to genotype 1)
I would suggest you continue with the treatment and get regular tests done to monitor viral load and response to therapy.
Newer drugs like Boceprevir and Telaprevir are available and effective against HCV infection but I would suggest you let her treating doctor decide if he wants to change the medication depending on the viral load and response to Ribavarin.
I hope I have answered your query satisfactorily.
Thanks.