![2016 Hepatitis Testing Day [image via AIDSgov, Wikimedia Commons]](https://staticr1.blastingcdn.com/media/photogallery/2017/8/16/660x290/b_502x220x82/2016-hepatitis-testing-day-image-via-aidsgov-wikimedia-commons_1511295.jpg "2016 Hepatitis Testing Day [image via AIDSgov, Wikimedia Commons]")
Hepatitis C can now be treated in just eight weeks. The first short-term effective Treatment Drug, which can treat all types of the Hepatitis virus, has already been approved by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration. The drug is indicated for adults, who do not have severe forms of liver cirrhosis, including those who were not cured by prior treatment options. Recently, American patients with Hepatitis C were estimated to number around 2.7 million to 3.9 million people. The chronic cases of Hepatitis C had increased by up to 77 percent between the years 2013 and 2016.
Mayvret is new treatment of choice
Hepatitis C patients get a new option for treatment- Mayvret. The newly approved drug has joined the market following FDA’s go signal, making it the newest pill to treat the virus along with other Hepatitis C drugs from AbbVie, Merck & Co and Gilead Sciences Inc. According to several the Physicians Research Network, this will give patients an additional treatment option that will only require routine medication for only two months. This will also reportedly give the patients the chance to get more discounts from insurance companies to cover the expensive drugs.
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention reveals that the virus slowly develops over decades without symptoms until complications become apparent.
The lack of treatment can lead to liver cancer and eventually liver failure, which most of the time necessitates a liver transplant for full recovery.
Through the years, Hep. C treatments have required patients to get shots and pills, but this has often resulted in adverse effects such as flu-like symptoms without a complete cure.
In 2013, the first pill-only drugs were introduced by Gilead, bringing about treatment in 12 weeks. More than 90 percent of patients with Hep. C virus gave the first pill-only drug a try, CBS News reported.
Hepatitis C cases linked to opioid addiction
An increase in the number of Hepatitis C cases in Michigan has prompted the residents to receive hepatitis vaccinations.
The Michigan Department of Health and Human Services has also noted that the growing cases of the virus infection can be directly linked to opioid addiction. The vaccines, however, prevent Hepatitis A and B types only and not Hepatitis C.
In 2016 alone, 11,883 were reported, which makes it onto the list of the most common communicable diseases in Michigan. Cases of liver cancer, viral hepatitis deaths, and liver transplants have reportedly increased as well over the past 10 years, which the Health Department believes are largely caused by the impact of the virus’ infection, MLive reported.
