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Friday, April 20, 2018
News Recap:
Green tea supplements may cause liver damage, warns EU watchdog. Green tea extracts may cause liver damage, the EU food safety watchdog today announced. Taking more than 800mg of green tea catechins each day may pose health concerns, according to the body’s review. Officials were unable to confirm a safe dose.
Race May Affect Ability to Achieve SVR in Hepatitis C. After being treated with direct-acting antivirals, African Americans with hepatitis C are less likely to achieve sustained virologic response at 12 weeks (SVR12) compared with white patients, according to results published in Pharmacology Research & Perspectives. Patients with hepatitis C who have advanced fibrosis are also less likely to achieve SVR12 than patients who do not have fibrosis.
Saskatchewan: Liver screening event looking for undiagnosed hepatitis cases. People lined up at the La Ronge Health Centre to participate in a special liver screening. The event was led by hepatitis C treatment support nurse Lesley Gallagher, who said the program is currently being rolled out in northern Saskatchewan. Aside from detecting hepatitis C, she said the two-day clinic acts as a point of care to get quick results in regards to other infectious diseases as well, because blood testing is also offered.
Punjab, India: Mass treatment of a population with chronic hepatitis C infection produces high rates of cure. A large-scale study evaluating the feasibility of decentralized care and the provision of free direct-acting antiviral agents (DAAs) has reported high rates of cure among a population of almost 20,000 individuals completing treatment for hepatitis C virus (HCV) infection. The study conducted in Punjab, India, which was reported at ILC 2018 in Paris, France, validated the efficacy and safety of generic all-oral DAA therapy.