Illness transmitted through exposure to contaminated blood
By Tania Polanco
Inter News Service- October 29, 2011
There are between 160,000 and 340,000 people in Puerto Rico — and up to 170 million around the world — who are infected with the hepatitis C virus. A new medication against the virus is bringing hope to millions of people around the world who suffer from the so-called “silent epidemic.” This disease is caused by the hepatitis C virus (HCV) destroys the liver in a progressive and asymptomatic manner.
Hepatitis C is transmitted through exposure to contaminated blood, just like the HIV virus, which causes AIDS. There is no vaccine for hepatitis C and the treatments used — a combination of two drugs called pegylated interferon and ribavirin — have not achieved a cure rate above 50 percent. The arrival of Incivex (telaprevir), an oral medication added to the traditional interferon-ribavirin treatment, is changing the odds, significantly raising the cure rate for the disease. People infected with the hepatitis C virus can benefit from a shorter, tolerable and safer treatment with a higher cure rate, said Dr. Maribel Rodríguez Torres, founder and medical director of Fundación de Investigación in Río Piedras.
“This is great news for hepatitis C patients, not only those who have been in treatment for many years, but also for those who could become infected with the virus because they now have access to a treatment that achieves a viral cure,” said Dr. Rodríguez.
Regarding the spread of hepatitis C in Puerto Rico, Rodríguez stated that the number of cases is currently between 6 and 10 percent of the island’s population, which make s approximately between 200,000 and 400,000 people who could be infected with HCV.
Those at a larger risk of contracting hepatitis C are drug addicts who have shared dirty needles or other drug paraphernalia, those who received blood transfusion prior to 1992, patients who have had sexual practices that exposed them to infected blood, dialysis patients, health professionals and children born from HCV-positive mothers
“Also at risk are those who have tattoos and piercings because they have no guarantees that the instruments used for this have been properly disinfected,” Rodríguez Torres said.
The doctor said that drug addiction in Puerto Rico was a major problem and a risk factor for hepatitis C in increasingly widening population groups. She added that those who think they may be at risk should get themselves tested.
The medication was developed by Vertex Pharmaceuticals Incorporated, along with Tibotec BVBA and Mitsubishi Tanabe Pharma.
Rodríguez, who specialized in gastroenterology at the University of Puerto Rico’s School of Medicine, said that with the use of this new medication, which was approved by the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) in May, the cure rate for the disease has increased to almost 79 percent and treatment time has been cut in half.
“Before [this medication], just 50 percent of patients could achieve a cure, after undergoing a 48-week treatment regimen. Now, with Incivek (telaprevir) along with interferon y ribavirin we have reports of a total and permanent cure in 79 percent of patients using this treatment for just a period of 24 weeks,” the gastroenterologist said.
Dr. Rodríguez explained that this new medication keeps the virus from replicating itself, which makes patients a negative viral load.
Dr. Rodríguez called it a great advance in medical and scientific research. “Telaprevir is what we call an HCV protease inhibitor. If the protease is not available, the virus can’t replicate itself within cells,” she said.
Rodríguez said that until now, hepatitis C patients were treated only with interferon and ribavirin, which did not manage to stop the spread of the disease effectively. In this new treatment protocol, telaprevir is added to stop the virus while interferon and ribavirin stimulate the body’s immunological process.
The doctor has earned international renown in the medical research realm, participating as chief researcher in the development of new medications to treat liver illnesses and cancer.
Rodríguez told INS that another positive aspect is that the new hepatitis C treatment has been proven to be just as effective in Latino patients, a population that registered a lower cure rate at 34 percent, compared to white patients.
Fundación de Investigación participated in clinical research trials testing Incivek as part of the treatment for hepatitis C.
Rodríguez said that Fundación de Investigación runs a clinic for those with any type of liver disease, offering free evaluation and treatment through the organization’s clinical research unit.
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