2023-10-26 07:30:55
The two main viral hepatitis infections in France are hepatitis B and hepatitis C, which each affect between 130,000 and 135,000 people in their chronic form. Hepatitis A is less common, with a few hundred cases recorded each year. The arrival of new treatments has led the High Authority of Health (HAS) to update its recommendations for the drug treatment of viral hepatitis. Explanations.
Viral hepatitis: A, B, C, D and E
Among hepatitis, which refers to inflammatory damage to the liver, viral hepatitis, that is to say liver damage associated with a viral infection, is by far the most common. Several viruses can infect the liver and cause different forms of hepatitis:
The impact of viral hepatitis on public health is particularly important for hepatitis A, B and C. To prevent hepatitis A and B, vaccination strategies and recommendations have been developed, particularly with compulsory vaccination of all infants against hepatitis B.
New treatments for hepatitis C
In recent years, the therapeutic arsenal against viral hepatitis has expanded, leading the HAS today to update its recommendations on medication management. The new developments concern the treatment of hepatitis C, hepatitis B and hepatitis D. Since 2017, are available direct-acting antiviral treatments for hepatitis C. These treatments make it possible to achieve virological cure (undetectable virus in the body) in 98% of patients, with a reduction in hepatic complications, extra-hepatic symptoms and mortality linked to hepatitis C.
In hepatitis B, treatments have evolved less than those for hepatitis C in recent years. Drug treatment helps suppress the activity of the virus, but does not achieve virological cure. Treatment recommendations depend on the stage of infection and are specific to pregnant women. Faced with this hepatitis, which remains a major public health issue in France, the main focus of the fight remains the vaccination of infants, but also that of all unvaccinated people.
Vaccination against hepatitis B at the heart of the fight against viral hepatitis
Finally, the recommendations updated by the HAS also concern the treatment of hepatitis D, which is less well known than the two previous ones. This hepatitis has the particularity of developing only in patients co-infected with the hepatitis B virus. This co-infection leads to more severe hepatitis and must absolutely be screened for signs suggestive of hepatitis B. Hepatitis B Chronic disease puts patients at increased risk of cirrhosis and liver cancer. Unfortunately, treatments for hepatitis D have changed little in recent years. A new treatment has just received the green light from health authorities, but its long-term effectiveness remains poorly understood.
In parallel with these updated recommendations on the treatments of viral hepatitis, the HAS should soon publish new recommendations on the epidemiology, screening, pre-treatment care, care pathway and post-treatment monitoring of viral hepatitis.
Estelle B., Doctor of Pharmacy
Sources
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