Hep C curable?

[libra1710]

Hi Everyone!

Just wanted your thoughts on whether Hep C is curable or not?  There has been a debate at my  job whether it is curable or not.  From my understanding you are cured once you achieve SVR, but I could be wrong.

[ceanothus]

I think it is largely a matter of the cure being relatively new, so that doctors haven't yet actually seen a lot of patients stay SVR permanently and they are maintaining a small measure of skepticism even though they don't really expect to find it returning. I've only heard if one case of it returning, in someone who was put on massive doses of immune suppressants. Someone posted the story in this thread from last month:
http://www.medhelp.org/posts/Hepatitis-C/Hep-C-interferon-treatment/show/1919223#post_8986215

[noble1]

After testing postitive for Hep. C genotype 1, viral load high in November 2009 was treated with the normal side effects i.e. flu, low wbc, itching, but nothing serious. After I completed 24 weeks of Pegasys interferon and ribovirin May of 2010 had my blood tested March 2013 and continue to be virus free...but I am still "afraid" I am not cured even though what I have read says that I am, my provider says I am... I am fortunate to not have any lasting side effects and feel very well. Live a healthy lifestyle and abstain from alcohol and using unnecessary medications including over the counter.

Do I need to continue to be tested for Hep. C virus? Even though my  provider says that I am cured I still  should be tested yearly for five years, which give me doubt that is truly cured otherwise why would I need to continue to be tested? and why so often? if is a cure then why not just retest in a couple of years??. Has anyone heard of a person's infection returning after 3 or more years who was not reinfected?  

[asle]

WOW. As if we didn't have enough with the NonA/nonB in the early 80's, then named Hep C , now Occult HCV.  STOP NOW, you incidious thing!

[desrt]

SVR is, for all intents and purposes, a cure. You no longer have the virus in your bloodstream and, in most cases, liver damage is halted or reversed. Where the confusion comes in, even among doctors, is the occult virus (HCV + and - strand RNA) that would show up in 85-90% of SVR patients if you did a biopsy of say their spinal fluid or some other parts of the body.
The latest study on occult that I read shows that even this disappears after about 8 years.

[Advocate1955]

Yes, it has really only been in the last two years that researchers, drug companies, and hepatologists have talked about a cure, but it now exists.

[dontworry_behappy]

Incivek makes a powerful statement about the CURE on their website.
For all the disbeliever that hepatitis C can be cured - go to the Incivek
Website and read it for yourself.  It's no walk in the park - but it works.

[paen53]

I'm almost 2 years post tx and SVR, but at my last appointment a week ago, I had to ask my doctor one more time, "Are you SURE it's gone and I never have to be tested again?" She said, "It's gone...no more worrying." I'm going to go with that from hereon in.......

[libra1710]

Thank you for the clarification! It seems as though most healthcare professionals believe the virus is not curable, and will always remain in your system.  This is a misconception which needs to be addressed within the healthcare field.  I was starting to doubt myself and thought maybe I was wrong, but I am glad you verified my original belief!

[pooh55811]

I should add that Hep C is an RNA virus (whereas Hep B is a DNA virus).

"VIRAL GENOME AND REPLICATION"
The HCV genome is a positive-sense RNA molecule of approximately 9500 nucleotides."

http://www.uptodate.com/contents/characteristics-of-the-hepatitis-c-virus?source=see_link


http://www.differencebetween.net/science/health/difference-between-dna-and-rna-viruses/

[pooh55811]

Hepatitis C is curable. If you achieve SVR, you are cured. The virus is gone.