Nowe możliwości leczenia wirusowego zapalenia wątroby typu C

Chronic hepatitis C (CHC) is the leading causes of chronic liver disease and its irreversible conse­quences: liver cirrhosis and hepatocellular carcino­ma. According to the estimates of the World Health Organization, about 1.5% (~71 million) of the global population exhibits the active infection of hepatitis C virus (HCV), and the number of deaths associated with its complications reaches 500,000 per year. Clinically, the disease may be insidious for many years, with mild and non characteristic symptoms. Diagnosis can be established only at the stage of advanced liver disease. Not rarely, serious extra­hepatic pathology develops following chronic HCV infection. Until 2014 the most commonly used anti­viral therapy consisted of combination of pegylated interferon and ribavirin. Its efficacy did not exceed 50%, and serious side effects were a significant ob­stacle to its use. Since 2015 new oral directly act­ing antiviral drugs (DAA) have been available in the treatment of CHC. They are characterized by a very favorable safety profile and high efficacy, mak­ing it possible to cure HCV infection in 90–95% of cases.