The Department of Veterans Affairs has cured more than 100,000 veterans of chronic hepatitis C virus infection (HCV), according to a news release from the VA. HCV infection can lead to advanced liver disease (ALD) and liver cancer, the VA said in the release. Curing HCV can prevent the development or progression of ALD, cutting death rates by up to 50%, it states. Prior to the VA’s treatment advances, patients with HCV had to take medications daily by mouth and weekly by injection for up to a year, and cure rates were as low as 35%, officials said in the release. That treatment also has what VA officials called “disabling medical and psychiatric side effects,” and many patients quit the program early. The new treatment, introduced in 2014, is based on all-oral antivirals that are more effective and less toxic with few side effects, officials said. Read more from the VA.
More than 100,000 Veterans Cured of Hepatitis C by VA Treatment
