Is the 25-year hepatitis C marathon coming to an end to declare victory?

Hepatitis C virus (HCV) which was originally recognized as posttransfusion non-A, non-B hepatitis has been a major global health problem affecting 3% of the world population. Interferon/peginterferon and ribavirin combination therapy was the backbone of chronic HCV therapy for two decades of the journey. However, the interferon based treatment success rate was around 50% with many side effects.

Pre-endoscopic erythromycin administration in upper gastrointestinal bleeding: an updated meta-analysis and systematic review.

Background: In patients suffering from upper gastrointestinal bleeding (UGIB), adequate visualization is essential during endoscopy. Prior to endoscopy, erythromycin administration has been shown to enhance visualization in these patients; however, guidelines have not fully adopted this practice. Thus, we performed a comprehensive, up-to-date meta-analysis on the issue of erythromycin administration in this patient population.

Extension for Community Health Outcomes-hepatitis C: Small steps carve big footprints in the allocation of scarce resources for hepatitis C virus treatment to remote developing areas.

Hepatitis C virus (HCV) infection is still a major health problem throughout the world. HCV patients living in rural areas are less fortunate than their counterparts residing in populous urbanized regions. The lack of medical resources and properly trained medical personnel in rural regions make it especially burdensome for HCV patients seeking treatment.

Show Me ECHO-Hepatitis C: A telemedicine mentoring program for patients with hepatitis C in underserved and rural areas in Missouri as a model in developing countries.

Project (Extension for Community Healthcare Outcomes) (ECHO) is a telemedicine case-based training model for primary care providers to treat complex diseases by mentoring academicians of universities. It was first developed by the University of New Mexico for rural and underserved areas in New Mexico. The project Show Me ECHO- Hepatitis C (HCV) is an adaptation of Project ECHO to improve healthcare and hepatitis C therapy in the entire state of Missouri, including rural and underserved areas.

Prophylactic tracheal intubation for upper GI bleeding: A meta-analysis.

Aim: To evaluate usefulness of prophylactically intubating upper gastrointestinal bleeding (UGIB) patients.

Methods: UGIB results in a significant number of hospital admissions annually with endoscopy being the key intervention. In these patients, risks are associated with the bleeding and the procedure, including pulmonary aspiration.