Hepatitis B News and Research

Latest Hepatitis B News and Research

Viewpoints: The importance of hepatitis C testing; Medicaid needs to provide coverage for circumcision

I consider myself to be a fortunate person. I have a good education, a great job and excellent health insurance. I am a baby boomer who has aged reasonably well and can look forward to a fairly comfortable retirement. I am also fortunate because I was diagnosed with hepatitis C by a proactive and knowledgeable doctor in the late 1990s and had the opportunity to be treated and cured. The odds are that if I had not been diagnosed and treated, I would be on a liver transplant list right now, have liver cancer or even be dead from this disease.

22 Aug 2012

BioDiem and French partner VIVALIS a step forward in developing vaccines for diseases and related cancers

Australian infectious disease therapy and vaccine development company BioDiem Ltd (ASX: BDM) announced today successful results from two programs of work carried out by French partner VIVALIS (NYSE Euronext: VLS), confirming the ability of BioDiem’s Live Attenuated Influenza Virus (LAIV) to grow in VIVALIS’ proprietary EB66® cell line.

20 Aug 2012

Infectious disease rates are high among homeless people

Rates of the infectious diseases HIV, Hepatitis C and tuberculosis among the world’s homeless people are many times higher than in the general population, according to a new systematic review of existing data published Online First in The Lancet Infectious Diseases.

20 Aug 2012

CDC: Baby boomers should be tested for Hep C

Americans born between 1945 and 1965 are at particularly high risk for Hepatitis C and should be tested, according to new recommendations from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

18 Aug 2012

Ohio's three Clinical and Translational Science Award institutions establish IRB agreement

The three Clinical and Translational Science Award (CTSA) institutions in Ohio — Case Western Reserve University, University of Cincinnati and The Ohio State University — and their partnering institutions have established a statewide collaborative agreement allowing a single organization's Institutional Review Board (IRB) to assume IRB responsibilities on behalf of multiple institutions when conducting multicenter studies.

18 Aug 2012

First Edition: August 17, 2012

Now on Kaiser Health News' blog, Jenny Gold reports on a new survey about accountable care organizations: "Few hospitals interested in becoming accountable care organizations are ready to take on financial risk, according to a survey released Friday from The Commonwealth Fund."

17 Aug 2012

Researchers identify molecular and protein signatures that predict HCV virus-induced liver injury

Researchers have discovered molecular and protein signatures that predict rapid onset of liver damage in hepatitis C patients following a liver transplant. The markers appeared soon after transplant and well before clinical evidence of liver damage.

17 Aug 2012

CDC recommends hepatitis C screening for all patients born from 1945-1965

Without other risk factors, all Americans born between 1945 and 1965 should have a one-time screening for the hepatitis C virus (HCV) according to new recommendations being published early online today in Annals of Internal Medicine, the flagship journal of the American College of Physicians. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) also recommends that all persons identified with HCV should receive a brief alcohol screening and intervention and be referred to appropriate care and treatment services for HCV and related conditions.

17 Aug 2012

Common antibiotics may risk liver injury in elderly

Regulatory warnings should be considered for the antibiotics moxifloxacin and levofloxacin because of a potential risk for liver injuries in the elderly, Canadian researchers suggest.

14 Aug 2012

Researchers solve hepatitis C vaccine mystery

Researchers at the Burnet Institute have solved a hepatitis C vaccine mystery which, once developed could be the first ever preventative vaccine for the virus.

13 Aug 2012

Syrians in urgent need of life-saving medicines as fighting escalates, WHO warns

"Syrians are in urgent need of life-saving medicines following an escalation in fighting, which also threatens further food shortages, U.N. agencies warned on Tuesday," Agence France-Presse reports.

9 Aug 2012

Immigration influences HIV diagnosis demographics

HIV-positive individuals born outside the USA are a heterogenous population but have significant demographic differences to infected patients born within in the USA, research reveals.

8 Aug 2012

Study reports new potential NOX inhibitor therapy for liver fibrosis

A study published in the online journal Hepatology reports a potential new NADPH oxidase (NOX) inhibitor therapy for liver fibrosis, a scarring process associated with chronic liver disease that can lead to loss of liver function.

8 Aug 2012

Creating new non-influenza vaccines: an interview with Julie Phillips, CEO of BioDiem

BioDiem recently signed a collaborative agreement with The Royal Melbourne Institute of Technology (RMIT) for the development of non-influenza vaccines using BioDiem’s proprietary live attenuated influenza virus (LAIV) technology.

7 Aug 2012

TAT-ARC fusion protein helps treat acute liver failure

Acute liver failure is a life-threatening disease, characterized by a sudden, massive death of liver cells. Unfortunately, few treatment options exist, especially for advanced-stage liver failure. As a last resort a liver transplant may be the only remaining option.

3 Aug 2012

Generic drugs saved U.S. $1T over 10 years, industry study finds

Generic drug makers released a study Thursday that found generic pharmaceuticals have saved the U.S. -- through private prescriptions as well as Medicare and Medicaid -- more than $1 trillion over 10 years.

3 Aug 2012

Poor sleep can reduce effectiveness of vaccines

As moms have always known, a good night's sleep is crucial to good health -- and now a new study led by a UCSF researcher shows that poor sleep can reduce the effectiveness of vaccines.

1 Aug 2012

FibroGen receives FDA Orphan Drug Designation for FG-3019 to treat IPF

FibroGen, Inc., today announced that FG-3019, the Company's human monoclonal antibody against connective tissue growth factor (CTGF), has been granted Orphan Drug Designation by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) for the treatment of idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis (IPF).

31 Jul 2012

Australia's top medical researchers for 2012 announced

Finalists for one of Australia’s longest running and most prestigious awards for medical research were announced today. This year’s winner will join a list of alumni winners that includes many of the country’s most respected scientists.

31 Jul 2012

Two new targets could enhance the body's defenses against West Nile and hepatitis C

Two new targets have been discovered for antiviral therapies and vaccines strategies that could enhance the body's defenses against such infectious diseases as West Nile and hepatitis C. The targets are within the infection warning system inside living cells.

31 Jul 2012