HEPATITIS C VIRUS INFECTION AND ITS ASSOCIATED COMPLICATIONS: A REVIEW ARTICLE

This review will provide a general overview of the issues involved with the treatment of chronic HCV. Chronic HCV infection is often undiagnosed therefore the virus remains infective and transmissible. It is important to identify HCV infection as early as possible so as to limiting its spread, it is very difficult to identify individuals who require further HCV tests. In addition to antiviral therapy, considerations in the treatment of patients with chronic hepatitis C virus (HCV) include psychological counseling, alcohol avoidance, symptom control, dose adjustment of medications, and screening for complications of cirrhosis. The goal of treatment in patients with chronic HCV is to eradicate HCV RNA, which is associated with decreases in all-cause mortality, liver-related death, need for liver transplantation, hepatocellular carcinoma rates, and liver-related complications. Peg interferon combined with ribavirin (plus boceprevir or telaprevir in patients with genotype 1 is the standard treatment for patients with chronic HCV infection. Important predictors of a treatment response include the HCV genotype, baseline viral load, race, host genetic factors, and treatment-related factors, such as the choice and dose of medications.