Treatment of hepatitis C virus infection: updated Swedish Guidelines 2016

Abstract

In a recent expert meeting, Swedish recommendations for the treatment of hepatitis C virus (HCV) infection were updated. An interferon-free combination of direct-acting antiviral agents is considered and indicated for all patients with chronic HCV infection, but the ability to treat all is limited primarily by high cost of medication. The group of patients prioritized for therapeutic intervention has been extended to also include fertile women desiring to become pregnant. A more thorough discussion of treatment for people who inject drugs (PWIDs) in order to diminish transmission is included, and the clinical significance of baseline NS5A resistance associated variants (RAVs), also known as resistance associated substitutions (RASs), for the treatment of HCV genotype 1a or 3 infection is discussed.

Keywords:

• Hepatitis C virus
• Guidelines
• Direct-acting antiviral agents
• People who inject drugs
• Children
• Chronic kidney disease
• HIV co-infection
• Resistance associated variants
• Resistance associated substitutions
• Genotype

Disclosure statement

The authors report no conflicts of interest. The authors alone are responsible for the content and writing of this article.

Additional information

Funding

This work was supported by Vetenskapsrådet [Diarienr 2011:3821].