November 10, 2010

Virological Tools to Diagnose and Monitor HCV Infection

Clinical Microbiology and Infection
DOI: 10.1111/j.1469-0691.2010.03418.x

Accepted Article (Accepted, unedited articles published online for future issues)

Copyright © 2010 European Society of Clinical Microbiology and Infectious

Author Information
French National Reference Center for Viral Hepatitis B, C and delta, Department of Virology & INSERM U955, Hôpital Henri Mondor, Université Paris-Est, Créteil, France

*Correspondence: Correspondance: Dr Stephane CHEVALIEZ, PharmD, PhD Department of Virology Hôpital Henri Mondor 51 avenue du Maréchal de Lattre de Tassigny 94010 Créteil, France Tel : +33-1-4981-2828 Fax : +33-1-4981-2839 E-mail : stephane.chevaliez@hmn.aphp.fr

Publication History
Accepted manuscript online: 4 NOV 2010 12:03PM EST
Received Date: 18-Oct-2010Accepted Date: 22-Oct-2010

Abstract
Approximately 200 million people are chronically infected with hepatitis C virus. HCV infection is curable by therapy, with the current standard treatment based on the combination of pegylated interferon alpha and ribavirin. Viral eradication is however achieved in approximately half of treated-patients. In 2011 new antiviral treatment based on triple combination with a protease inhibitor will be available. Virological tools are essential to diagnose HCV infection, but they have found their principal application in guiding treatment decisions and assessing the virological responses to therapy. These include the anti-HCV antibody assay, measurements of HCV core antigen and HCV viral load and HCV genotyping. HCV RNA can be ideally assayed by a real-time assay with a limit of detection of 10-15 IU/mL. Monitoring of viral kinetics during the early phases of antiviral treatment is crucial in making treatment decisions such as early stopping rules and also in optimizing the treatment duration. The HCV genotype should be assessed before the start of treatment because it determines the treatment length and ribavirin dose and also offers prognostic information on treatment outcomes as certain genotypes respond more favorably to treatment.

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