According to WHO forecasts, the goal could be reached in 2030
by Irene De Marzo
July 22, 2022 - Only two diseases have been eradicated in human history, and thehepatitis C could join this select club in 2030, according to the goal set by the World Health Organization. The July 28 is World Hepatitis Day, commissioned by the WHO on the anniversary of the birth of Baruch Blumberg, the US biochemist Nobel Prize winner for the discovery, in 1967, of the hepatitis B virus and who developed the first vaccine. It will be an opportunity to recall the phenomenon of hepatitis, viral diseases that affect around 325 million people worldwide each year, most of whom are unaware that they have fallen ill. In particular, hepatitis C represents an insidious enemy because, like other forms of hepatitis, it can become chronic and evolve in a problematic way, as happens in over 70% of cases.
"We speak of chronicity when from the onset of hepatitis, hypertransaminasemia, i.e. the presence of high transaminases, persists for more than six months - Explains Antonio Picardi, Associate Professor of Internal Medicine UCBM and head of the Unit of Clinical Medicine and Hepatology at the Campus Bio-Medico University Hospital Foundation – Chronic hepatitis can have a highly variable evolution that depends on both the virus and the host, but over time it can evolve into cirrhosis or hepatocellular carcinoma, i.e. the malignant tumor of the liver”. For this reason it is necessary to know how this pathology is transmitted in order to prevent it. “The hepatitis C virus – Picardi continues – it is transmitted parenterally, i.e. when an object that has been in contact with infected blood pricks or cuts a non-infected person. Objects such as scalpels, piercings, tattoo needles or used for taking drugs can therefore be potential vectors".
Precisely for this reason, one was held in the United States screening of the Baby Boomers population, who have been most exposed to risks of this kind. In Italy, on the other hand, progress is still slow. “The genome of the C virus – Picardi continues – it is made up of RNA, a rather unstable molecule, so the virus remains in the body until it can replicate. Today we have easily accessible drugs that can successfully block viral replication in over 95% of cases, so that within a few weeks the infected hepatocytes are eliminated and the virus disappears, thus making recovery possible”. If the WHO forecasts are respected, the goal of eradication could be cut just forty-one years after the identification of the C virus first isolated in 1989.”The achievement of the goal though – Picardi warns – it is conditional on the ability to identify those people unaware of the infection. A challenge complicated by the fact that the disease often gives no signs of its presence".
