Viral Hepatitis: The New Challenge in the Era of Antiviral Treatments

A special issue of Pathogens (ISSN 2076-0817). This special issue belongs to the section "Viral Pathogens".

Deadline for manuscript submissions: closed (31 December 2022) | Viewed by 5714

Special Issue Editor


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Guest Editor
Department of Mental Health and Public Medicine, University of Campania Luigi Vanvitelli, 80138 Naples, Italy
Interests: viral hepatitis; HBV; HDV; infectious diseases
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Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

The viral hepatitis by HBV, HDV, and HCV have represented the major aetiology of acute and chronic hepatitis in recent decades worldwide. For example, HBV was the major factor for hepatocellular carcinoma, HDV was associated a more severe forms of chronic hepatitis, HCV was the principal aetiology of chronic hepatitis in Western countries.

However, today they have several challenges in the knowledge and management of HCV and HBV, due to the development of very efficacious antiviral treatment, have a good prognosis today; however, for these infections the challenge is represented by the case finding and linkage-to-care of the positive subjects, not only in difficult-to reach populations, such as intravenous drug users, prisoners, and immigrants, but also in the general population. For example, since the high efficacy of direct anti-viral agents (DAA) treatment, the World Health Organization (WHO) in 2015 suggested that HCV could be eliminated by HCV treatment within 2030 (i.e., 90% reduction in new chronic infections, 65% reduction in mortality). Moreover, the new challenge for HBV infection is, today, the availability of new diagnostic markers and of possible functional cures. The challenge for HDV infection is today the identification of its epidemiology worldwide and the development of new therapeutic strategies.

Authors are cordially invited to contribute original research papers or reviews to this Special Issue of Pathogens.

Prof. Dr. Nicola Coppola
Guest Editor

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Keywords

  • HBV
  • HDV
  • HCV
  • antiviral therapy
  • diagnostic tools

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Published Papers (2 papers)

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Research

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6 pages, 223 KiB  
Article
Safety and Efficacy of Direct Antiviral Agents for Hepatitis C in Patients with Malignancies Other Than Liver Cancer: A Case Series
by Fabian Patauner, Maria Stanzione, Gianfranca Stornaiuolo, Veronica Martone, Roberta Palladino, Nicola Coppola, Emanuele Durante-Mangoni and Rosa Zampino
Pathogens 2022, 11(8), 860; https://doi.org/10.3390/pathogens11080860 - 29 Jul 2022
Cited by 2 | Viewed by 2036
Abstract
(1) Background: direct-acting antivirals (DAA) are the current standard of care for chronic hepatitis C. Oncologic patients remain among the most difficult-to-treat subgroups of hepatitis C virus (HCV)-infected patients due to their clinical frailty and complex therapeutic protocols received. (2) Methods: we retrospectively [...] Read more.
(1) Background: direct-acting antivirals (DAA) are the current standard of care for chronic hepatitis C. Oncologic patients remain among the most difficult-to-treat subgroups of hepatitis C virus (HCV)-infected patients due to their clinical frailty and complex therapeutic protocols received. (2) Methods: we retrospectively collected and analysed clinical data of 30 consecutive patients treated with DAA, between 2015 and 2022, for chronic HCV infection in the context of oncologic disease. (3) Results: most patients were females (63.3%), median age was 67 years, HCV genotype 1 was prevalent (60%), and median HCV RNA levels were 2.2 × 106 IU/mL. The most common malignancy was breast cancer (37%), and the chief oncologic drugs co-administered with DAAs were tamoxifen, platinum derivatives, cyclophosphamide, paclitaxel, rituximab and doxorubicin. Overall, 50% of patients had chronic hepatitis. A total of 76.7% underwent a sofosbuvir-based treatment. Sustained virological response 12 weeks after the end of therapy (SVR12) was reached in all patients. After SVR12, two patients died. DAA treatment was well tolerated; no patients had to stop DAA treatment or showed any adverse event or drug-drug interaction specifically attributable to DAAs. (4) Conclusions: DAA treatment should be promptly offered to oncologic patients with chronic hepatitis C in order to achieve aminotransferase normalization and viremia control, making antineoplastic therapy feasible and safe. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Viral Hepatitis: The New Challenge in the Era of Antiviral Treatments)

Review

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10 pages, 754 KiB  
Review
COVID-19 as Another Trigger for HBV Reactivation: Clinical Case and Review of Literature
by Caterina Sagnelli, Laura Montella, Pierantonio Grimaldi, Mariantonietta Pisaturo, Loredana Alessio, Stefania De Pascalis, Evangelista Sagnelli and Nicola Coppola
Pathogens 2022, 11(7), 816; https://doi.org/10.3390/pathogens11070816 - 21 Jul 2022
Cited by 18 | Viewed by 3156
Abstract
Universal hepatitis B virus (HBV) vaccination has been applied for years in most countries, but HBV infection remains an unresolved public health problem worldwide, with over one-third of the world’s population infected during their lifetime and approximately 248 million hepatitis B surface antigen [...] Read more.
Universal hepatitis B virus (HBV) vaccination has been applied for years in most countries, but HBV infection remains an unresolved public health problem worldwide, with over one-third of the world’s population infected during their lifetime and approximately 248 million hepatitis B surface antigen (HBsAg) chronic carriers. HBV infection may reactivate with symptomatic and sometimes life-threatening clinical manifestations due to a reduction in the immune response of various origins, due to chemotherapy or immunosuppressive therapy, treatments increasingly practiced worldwide. SARS-CoV-2 and its COVID-19 associated disease have introduced new chances for HBV reactivation due to the use of dexamethasone and tocilizumab to counteract the cytokine storm. This could and should be prevented by accurate screening of HBV serologic markers and adequate pharmacologic prophylaxis. This article describes the case of a patient with COVID-19 who developed HBV reactivation and died of liver failure and analyzes published data on this setting to provide useful information to physicians who manage these patients during the SARS-CoV-2 pandemic. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Viral Hepatitis: The New Challenge in the Era of Antiviral Treatments)
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