Hepatitis Weekly articles from March 2001

Hepatitis Weekly archives from March 2001

Study Follows Hepatitis C Patients for 25 Years.
March 5, 2001... 2001 MAR 5 - (NewsRx.com & NewsRx.net) -- by Sonia Nichols, staff medical writer -- After following hepatitis C patients for 25 years, research collaborators have something new to report about the long-term effects of this disease. ...

Trial Assesses Post-Transplant Efficacy Of Lamivudine.
March 5, 2001... 2001 MAR 5 - (NewsRx.com & NewsRx.net) -- by Sonia Nichols, staff medical writer -- The preliminary results of a North American multi-center study have shown lamivudine monotherapy to be somewhat effective for treating hepatitis B virus...

Some Side Effects Observed In Children After Hepatitis B Vaccinations.
March 5, 2001... 2001 MAR 5 - (NewsRx.com & NewsRx.net) -- by Sonia Nichols, staff medical writer -- A report on adverse events following hepatitis B vaccination in young children indicates a small, but positive relationship between the vaccine and some...

Combination Therapy Works For Some, But Not All.
March 5, 2001... 2001 MAR 5 - (NewsRx.com & NewsRx.net) -- by Sonia Nichols, staff medical writer -- Not all patients with hepatitis C respond to a first round of interferon-only treatment, and only one in 14 may respond to subsequent combination...

Pre-Transplant Viral Load Is Factor For Cholestasis After Surgery.
March 5, 2001... 2001 MAR 5 - (NewsRx.com & NewsRx.net) -- by Sonia Nichols, staff medical writer -- Patients with livers containing higher levels of hepatitis C virus prior to liver transplant are more likely to be plagued by faulty liver bile flow, or...

Once-Daily Coviracil Shows Promise In HIV Infected Patients.
March 5, 2001... 2001 MAR 5 - (NewsRx.com & NewsRx.net) -- Triangle Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (VIRS), Durham, North Carolina, has presented data from two Phase III, 48-week trials, which included over 900 patients comparing once-daily Coviracil (emtricitabine,...

Outcomes For Pregnant Patients Good With Careful Monitoring.
March 5, 2001... 2001 MAR 5 - (NewsRx.com & NewsRx.net) -- by Sonia Nichols, staff medical writer -- Scientists report women with autoimmune hepatitis can have good outcomes with pregnancy as long as their hepatitis is controlled and their pregnancies are...

Study: HCV Infection No Reason To Deny Kidney Transplants To Liver Transplant Patients.
March 5, 2001... 2001 MAR 5 - (NewsRx.com & NewsRx.net) -- by Sonia Nichols, staff medical writer -- Researchers at the University of Pittsburgh say patients in need of a kidney transplant following liver transplantation should be eligible to receive one,...

WHO Office Will Help Developing Countries Detect And Control Epidemics, Emerging Diseases.
March 5, 2001... 2001 MAR 5 - (NewsRx.com & NewsRx.net) -- The World Health Organization (WHO) with the support of the Municipality of Lyon, France; the French Government; and the Marcel Merieux Foundation, opened a WHO Office in Lyon on February 8, 2001....

Careful Monitoring Needed Following Surgery To Detect HBV Recurrence.
March 5, 2001... 2001 MAR 5 - (NewsRx.com & NewsRx.net) -- by Sonia Nichols, staff medical writer -- To eliminate the risk of acute hepatic failure after surgery for hepatocellular carcinoma, hepatitis B patients need to be carefully monitored for viral...

Scientists Repopulate Rat Livers With Transplanted Liver Cells.
March 5, 2001... 2001 MAR 5 - (NewsRx.com & NewsRx.net) -- by Sonia Nichols, staff medical writer -- Researchers in the U.S. and Italy have been able to grow new liver cells in rats by transplanting the rats with donor hepatocytes. The prospect of...

Dual Mechanisms Produce VEGF Up-Regulation.
March 5, 2001... 2001 MAR 5 - (NewsRx.com & NewsRx.net) -- by Sonia Nichols, staff medical writer -- Vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF) up-regulation in hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) depends on hypoxia-related genetic changes, researchers in Germany...

Daily Interferon Therapy May Prevent Recurrent Infection In Transplants.
March 5, 2001... 2001 MAR 5 - (NewsRx.com & NewsRx.net) -- by Sonia Nichols, staff medical writer -- New research suggests liver transplant patients could reduce hepatitis C re-infection rates by taking daily, small doses of interferon instead of normally...

Interferon Safe Treatment For Children With Hemophilia.
March 5, 2001... 2001 MAR 5 - (NewsRx.com & NewsRx.net) -- by Sonia Nichols, staff medical writer -- Data gathered by researchers in Korea support treating hemophiliac children who also suffer from chronic hepatitis C with interferon-alpha therapy. ...

Risk Is Low For Work-Related Spread Of Hepatitis C In Scotland.
March 5, 2001... 2001 MAR 5 - (NewsRx.com & NewsRx.net) -- by Sonia Nichols, staff medical writer -- A Scottish study indicates the risk for occupationally-acquired hepatitis C virus (HCV) is low in Glasgow, both in high- and low-risk health care...

Donor Strains Of Hepatitis C Prevail In Previously Infected Blood Recipients.
March 12, 2001... 2001 MAR 12 - (NewsRx.com & NewsRx.net) -- by Sonia Nichols, staff medical writer -- New research suggests donor strains of hepatitis C virus (HCV) can begin to overrule and predominate in blood transfusion recipients already infected with...

Recombinant Hepatitis B Protein Creates Hepatitis C Vaccine.
March 12, 2001... 2001 MAR 12 - (NewsRx.com & NewsRx.net) -- by Sonia Nichols, staff medical writer -- Authors of an Australian study report using hepatitis B virus (HBV) particles to make a vaccine containing parts of the hepatitis C virus (HCV). The...

Hyperthyroidism Drug Indicated In Six Symptomatic Cases.
March 12, 2001... 2001 MAR 12 - (NewsRx.com & NewsRx.net) -- by Sonia Nichols, staff medical writer -- A drug used for treating hyperthyroidism has been linked to hepatitis development. The drug, called propylthiouracil (PTU), has been linked to at...

Young Children In Argentina Demonstrate Immune Response To Inactivated HAV Vaccine.
March 12, 2001... 2001 MAR 12 - (NewsRx.com & NewsRx.net) -- by Sonia Nichols, staff medical writer -- Researchers at a children's hospital in Argentina report children are appropriately protected by an inactivated hepatitis A vaccine. To prevent...

New HBV Infections Rank With Recurrent Infections Post-Transplant.
March 12, 2001... 2001 MAR 12 - (NewsRx.com & NewsRx.net) -- by Sonia Nichols, staff medical writer -- Until recently, it was suspected that patients acquiring new hepatitis B virus (HBV) infections after liver transplants did not fare as badly as patients...

Preexisting Psychiatric Problems Exacerbate Interferon Side Effects.
March 12, 2001... 2001 MAR 12 - (NewsRx.com & NewsRx.net) -- by Sonia Nichols, staff medical writer -- Hepatitis C virus patients with psychiatric problems experience more side effects and have greater difficulty coping with side effects when they begin to...

Epidemiologists Say Risk Is Low For Hepatitis C In South Hungary.
March 12, 2001... 2001 MAR 12 - (NewsRx.com & NewsRx.net) -- by Sonia Nichols, staff medical writer -- Hepatitis C is relatively rare in blood donors in southern Hungary, according to epidemiologists in that country. In a study performed at the...

International Reference Standards Encouraged.
March 12, 2001... 2001 MAR 12 - (NewsRx.com & NewsRx.net) -- by Michael Greer, staff medical writer -- International standards for expressing the results of blood screening are necessary to validate cross-country study results, virologists say. ...

Alcohol Misuse Heightens Risk In Patients With Hepatitis C.
March 12, 2001... 2001 MAR 12 - (NewsRx.com & NewsRx.net) -- by Sonia Nichols, staff medical writer -- Patients infected with hepatitis C virus (HCV) who abuse alcohol suffer more advanced liver disease, U.S. National Institutes of Health researchers say....

High HCV Blood Levels In HIV Patients May Increase Risk Of Developing AIDS.
March 12, 2001... 2001 MAR 12 - (NewsRx.com & NewsRx.net) -- Researchers at Cedars-Sinai Medical Center report that high amounts of hepatitis C virus (HCV) in the blood and simultaneous co-infection with HIV may be linked to a greater risk of developing AIDS...

Hepatitis E Antibodies Are More Prevalent In Serum Of Rural Brazilians.
March 12, 2001... 2001 MAR 12 - (NewsRx.com & NewsRx.net) -- by Sonia Nichols, staff medical writer -- An epidemiological study of populations in Brazil shows hepatitis E to be more prevalent in rural environments. The study, performed by researchers at...

U.S. Agencies Call For Reintroduction Of Routine Hepatitis B Vaccines For Newborns.
March 12, 2001... 2001 MAR 12 - (NewsRx.com & NewsRx.net) -- Changes in hepatitis B immunization recommendations that were intended to be temporary appear to have caused long-lasting changes in newborn hepatitis B vaccination practice, says the U.S. Centers...

U.S. Programs Accept Patients With History Of Alcoholism, Drug Addiction.
March 12, 2001... 2001 MAR 12 - (NewsRx.com & NewsRx.net) -- All U.S. liver transplantation programs responding to a national survey accept patients with a history of alcoholism or other drug addictions. But about a third of programs require discontinuation...

New Blood Test May Be More Accurate, May Have Other Diagnostic Applications.
March 12, 2001... 2001 MAR 12 - (NewsRx.com & NewsRx.net) -- A new blood test for Lyme disease may provide a more accurate method for detecting the tick-borne illness, particularly in its early stages when current tests may not yield an accurate diagnosis....

Drugfacts.Com, NewsRx Collaboration Expands Availability Of Custom Health News For Professionals.
March 12, 2001... 2001 MAR 12 - (NewsRx.com & NewsRx.net) -- Drugfacts.com, the premier free drug information resource on the Internet for pharmacists and other healthcare professionals, and NewsRx, the leading provider of daily and weekly health news, have...

DNA Vaccine Clinical Study Underway For Hepatitis B Immunotherapy.
March 12, 2001... 2001 MAR 12 - (NewsRx.com & NewsRx.net) -- PowderJect Pharmaceuticals Plc (PJP) and its wholly-owned subsidiary, PowderJect Vaccines, Inc., announced the initiation of a clinical trial designed to support the development of a DNA...

HCV Positive Injection Drug Users Unaware Of How Virus Is Spread, Serum Status.
March 12, 2001... 2001 MAR 12 - (NewsRx.com & NewsRx.net) -- by Sonia Nichols, staff medical writer -- Brown University researchers say former injection drug users frequently remain unaware of their hepatitis C virus (HCV) infection status and are in the...

Non-Responders To Interferon Profit From Adding Ribavirin To Regimen.
March 19, 2001... 2001 MAR 19 - (NewsRx.com & NewsRx.net) -- by Sonia Nichols, staff medical writer -- Hepatitis C virus (HCV) patients who do not respond to a first round of interferon monotherapy may fare better when given combination interferon/ribavirin...

Cholangiography Best For Differentiating Sclerosing Cholangitis From AIH.
March 19, 2001... 2001 MAR 19 - (NewsRx.com & NewsRx.net) -- by Sonia Nichols, staff medical writer -- Extensive analysis that includes cholangiography is best for distinguishing autoimmune hepatitis (AIH) from autoimmune sclerosing cholangitis (ASC) in...

Hepatitis C Virus Clamps Onto Protein Synthesis Machinery.
March 19, 2001... 2001 MAR 19 - (NewsRx.com & NewsRx.net) -- Researchers have discovered that the hepatitis C virus (HCV) employs an unusual strategy to induce a host cell's protein-making machinery to synthesize viral proteins. The research could...

Time Factor And RNA Levels Predict Sustained Response.
March 19, 2001... 2001 MAR 19 - (NewsRx.com & NewsRx.net) -- by Sonia Nichols, staff medical writer -- Hepatitis C virus (HCV) RNA serum levels at specific points in time are the best predictor for sustained response to therapy in chronic hepatitis C...

Injection Drug Users At Needle Exchange Program Share Few Syringes, And Those Who Do Share With Friends.
March 19, 2001... 2001 MAR 19 - (NewsRx.com & NewsRx.net) -- Most injection drug users who use community needle exchange programs - which aim to reduce the risk of illness spread through tainted needles - do not share their needles, according to public...

Obesity And Liver Fibrosis Common To Chinese HCV Patients With Fatty Liver.
March 19, 2001... 2001 MAR 19 - (NewsRx.com & NewsRx.net) -- by Sonia Nichols, staff medical writer -- Obesity and liver fibrosis are linked to the presence of hepatic steatosis or fatty liver in Chinese patients with chronic hepatitis C. Scientists...

Careful Evaluation Should Precede Adoption Of Surveillance Programs.
March 19, 2001... 2001 MAR 19 - (NewsRx.com & NewsRx.net) -- by Sonia Nichols, staff medical writer -- University of Bologna investigators say surveillance programs that track hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) benefit patient survival to a certain extent, but...

Physicians Overlook Sepsis/Shock When Diagnosing Source Of Elevated Bilirubin.
March 19, 2001... 2001 MAR 19 - (NewsRx.com & NewsRx.net) -- by Sonia Nichols, staff medical writer -- Doctors often misdiagnose the cause of jaundice, according to a study conducted in the United Kingdom. While gastroenterologists and general...

Protective Immunity Against HAV Eventually Declines In Graft Recipients.
March 19, 2001... 2001 MAR 19 - (NewsRx.com & NewsRx.net) -- by Sonia Nichols, staff medical writer -- Protective immunity developed after immunization with the hepatitis A vaccine gradually weakens in liver and kidney transplant recipients. Within a...

Harvard University Scientists Report No Association With Hepatitis B Virus Vaccine.
March 19, 2001... 2001 MAR 19 - (NewsRx.com & NewsRx.net) -- by Sonia Nichols, staff medical writer -- Medical researchers at Harvard University report finding no association between hepatitis B virus (HBV) immunization and increased risk for multiple...

Researchers Discover Hepatitis C Translation Trick.
March 19, 2001... 2001 MAR 19 - (NewsRx.com & NewsRx.net) -- A new electron microscopy map reveals how the hepatitis C virus manages to trick the ribosome into adding its RNA to the protein assembly line. Howard Hughes Medical Institute researchers...

Steroid Priming Increases Viral Load, Morbidity.
March 19, 2001... 2001 MAR 19 - (NewsRx.com & NewsRx.net) -- by Sonia Nichols, staff medical writer -- Current research suggests steroid priming before interferon (IFN) therapy increases viremia and worsens disease status in patients with hepatitis C virus...

Oligonucleotide Targets Murine Fas mRNA In Hepatocytes.
March 26, 2001... 2001 MAR 26 - (NewsRx.com & NewsRx.net) -- by N.R. Saltmarsh, staff medical writer - An oligonucleotide that targets murine Fas mRNA appears to reduce Fas expression in the liver and to protect mice from death caused by agonistic Fas...

Pre-Operative Chemoimmunotherapy For Unresectable Tumors Can Induce Remission.
March 26, 2001... 2001 MAR 26 - (NewsRx.com & NewsRx.net) -- by Sonia Nichols, staff medical writer - Patients with inoperable liver cancer could benefit by being given chemoimmunotherapy and then surgery. Medical researchers in China, using newer...

Lamivudine Prophylaxis Improves Outcome For HBV-Related Grafts.
March 26, 2001... 2001 MAR 26 - (NewsRx.com & NewsRx.net) -- by Sonia Nichols, staff medical writer - End-stage liver disease patients with chronic hepatitis B have better outcomes when they take lamivudine prior to liver transplantation. A report in...

Lamivudine Beats Famciclovir For Long-Term Effectiveness in Liver Transplant Patients.
March 26, 2001... 2001 MAR 26 - (NewsRx.com & NewsRx.net) -- by Sonia Nichols, staff medical writer - A new study reports lamivudine is a superior therapy for treating hepatitis B virus infections in patients who have undergone liver transplantation. ...

HBV-Positive Population Provides Clues To Kaposi's Sarcoma-Associated Herpesvirus.
March 26, 2001... 2001 MAR 26 - (NewsRx.com & NewsRx.net) -- by Sonia Nichols, staff medical writer - Serum from hepatitis B virus (HBV)-positive blood donors has enabled researchers in Israel to trace the epidemiology of Kaposi's sarcoma-associated...

Outpatient Liver Biopsy Convenient, Reduces Costs.
March 26, 2001... 2001 MAR 26 - (NewsRx.com & NewsRx.net) -- by Sonia Nichols, staff medical writer - Outpatient liver biopsy is safe, reduces costs, and is more convenient for the patient, researchers in Italy suggest. "Following the discovery of...

Hepatitis B and C Linked To Non-Hodgkin's Lymphoma In Japan.
March 26, 2001... 2001 MAR 26 - (NewsRx.com & NewsRx.net) -- by Sonia Nichols, staff medical writer - Hepatitis B and C viruses associate with non-Hodgkin's lymphoma, especially in males, researchers in Japan say. A study conducted by Masami Kuniyoshi...

High Rates Of HBV And HCV Are Blamed For Growing Incidence of Liver Cancer In Egypt.
March 26, 2001... 2001 MAR 26 - (NewsRx.com & NewsRx.net) -- by Sonia Nichols, staff medical writer - Hepatocellular carcinoma is increasing in Egypt because of high rates of hepatitis B virus (HBV) and hepatitis C virus (HCV) infections. Hepatocellular...

Pre-Operative VEGF Level Is Biomarker For Vascular Invasion In Liver Cancer.
March 26, 2001... 2001 MAR 26 - (NewsRx.com & NewsRx.net) -- by Sonia Nichols, staff medical writer - A new study indicates pre-surgical serum vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF) levels predict microvessel invasion in liver cancer patients. R.T.P....

Pigs Are Reservoir For Hepatitis E Virus And Infection Risk For Humans.
March 26, 2001... 2001 MAR 26 - (NewsRx.com & NewsRx.net) -- by Sonia Nichols, staff medical writer - New study results confirm previous evidence that hepatitis E virus (HEV) could be transmitted from pigs to humans. Medical researchers have performed a...

Differential Profiles Mark Genetics Of Hepatitis B And C.
March 26, 2001... 2001 MAR 26 - (NewsRx.com & NewsRx.net) -- by Sonia Nichols, staff medical writer - Scientists have found clues that genetic mechanisms differ in hepatitis B and hepatitis C virus infections. The scientists, members of a research team...

Extended Interferon Beats Standard Dosing For Sustained Response.
March 26, 2001... 2001 MAR 26 - (NewsRx.com & NewsRx.net) -- by Sonia Nichols, staff medical writer - Long-term interferon therapy improves sustained response rates in patients with chronic hepatitis C. A report from The Netherlands indicates initial...

Liver Enzyme Test Inadequate For Screening Patients For HCV.
March 26, 2001... 2001 MAR 26 - (NewsRx.com & NewsRx.net) -- by Sonia Nichols, staff medical writer - Researchers report elevated alanine aminotransferase (ALT) is of no use for screening hemodialysis patients for hepatitis C virus (HCV) infections. ...