Current Status of Hepatitis C Virus ‐Infected Maintenance Hemodialysis Patients in Japan

Abstract Complete recovery using interferon therapy in Japanese hepatitis C virus (HCV)‐infected dialysis patients is difficult to achieve because >70 % of the HCV genotypes observed in Japan are type 1. In 2016, new direct‐acting antiviral drugs against HCV genotype 1 were reported to be effective and safe for HCV‐infected hemodialysis patients. Although new direct antiviral therapy has become available, no large‐scale studies evaluating the status of HCV infection in Japanese hemodialysis patients have been conducted since 2007. Therefore, we conducted a questionnaire survey to determine the current status of HCV infection in patients. Our results indicated that the HCV antibody prevalence was 5.02 %, and HCV RNA prevalence was 72.3 %. Genotype testing revealed that 62.1 % of patients had HCV genotype 1. New direct antiviral therapy may improve the survival of Japanese HCV‐infected dialysis patients.
Source: Therapeutic Apheresis and Dialysis - Category: Hematology Authors: Tags: Original Article Source Type: research