One of the most difficult liver diseases will be completely curable soon at the University Clinical Center in Tuzla. Namely, one hundred percent healing of chronic hepatitis C is enabled by the new treatment whose application in this health institution should begin in no later than two months. The treatment includes taking a combination of drugs in tablets for 12 weeks or 24 weeks in more serious cases of disease.
According to the Prof. Dr. Sc. Nermin Salkić, internal medicine specialists and gastroenterohepatology sub-specialist at the UCC in Tuzla, the most efficient treatment of the chronic hepatitis C so far had the healing efficiency of up to 60, sometimes 70 percent, regardless of the virus genotype.
As of two years ago, two types of the so-called “directly acting” treatment appeared on the market, independent from each other. The treatment includes taking a combination of tableted drugs for 12 or 24 months, in more difficult cases.
“Apart from much more acceptable safety and absence of side effects connected with the application of interferon, because the treatment is interferon-free, the efficiency of therapy was miraculous even with patients who had the genotype which is difficult to heal (genotype 1 and 4). Practically, for the first time we can say that chronic hepatitis C is now a curable disease,” Salkić highlighted.
Salkić pointed out that this is one of ultimate ventures in medicinal science in this century, because one of the most difficult chronic liver diseases can be cured with tableted drugs now, while just recently it used to be one of the main causes of liver cirrhosis in the world.
An advantage of this treatment, in addition to its exceptionally successful effect, is also reflected in the manner of application. Unlike previous treatments, the patient takes drugs in the form of tablets or capsules.
“The medicines are usually taken twice a day. Protocols differ on the genotype of the virus, but generally the treatment lasts for 12 weeks or 24 weeks with patients who suffer from a more severe form of disease. What is important to day is that this with this treatment, unlike with the previous one, we can also heal patients who underwent a liver transplantation due to infection with the hepatitis C virus and who are regularly infected again after the transplantation. This is really important for them, because now we have at our disposal a mighty weapon that prevents the virus from destroying the ‘new’ liver that the patients get,” Salkić pointed out.
Regardless of the form of disease, Salkić added that the percentage of curing does not fall below 95 percent.
(Source: klix.ba/ photo tuzlalive)
