Hepatitis: Ferreira MS

de Araújo ES, Mendonça JS, Barone AA, Gonçales FL, Ferreira MS, Focaccia R, Pawlotsky JM. · No affiliation provided · Braz J Infect Dis. · Pubmed #17962867 links to  free full text

This publication has no abstract.

Ferreira MS, Borges AS. · Serviço de Infectologia, Hospital de Clínicas, Universidade Federal de Uberlândia, Uberlandia, MG. · Rev Soc Bras Med Trop. · Pubmed #17876470 links to  free full text

Abstract: Over the last years there has been considerable progress in the treatment of chronic hepatitis B. Five drugs are now approved for the treatment of this virosis: interferon alpha, lamivudine, adefovir, entecavir and telbivudine. Interferons (conventional or PEG) were the first medicine used in the treatment of hepatitis being able to lead the persistent response (loss of DNA-HBV and of AgHbe) to up to one third of treated cases. A large number of nucleoside/nucleotide analogues are, at present, available to treat hepatitis B. The efficacy of lamivudine, the first nucleoside analogue used, is limited by the high rate of resistance. Adefovir has efficacy comparable to that of lamivudine, but with low resistance rate. Entecavir and tenofovir have also been particularly active in the control of hepatitis B virus replication and are associated with minimal resistance development, even during long treatment regimens. Other drugs, such as telbivudine, emtricitabine and clevudine, will become new treatment options in the near future. Individuals co-infected with HIV/HBV are particularly difficult to manage and are nowadays able to benefit from combinations of drugs of the HAART therapy, which should be effective towards both viruses. The development of more potent antiviral drugs as well as new drug combinations, together with a better understanding of hepatitis B virus resistance mechanisms are important milestones to improve treatment efficacy and to diminish, in the future, the global burden of hepatitis B virus.

Ferreira MS. · Disciplina de Doenças Infecciosas e Parasitárias, Universidade Federal de Uberlândia, MG, Brasil. · Rev Soc Bras Med Trop. · Pubmed #10936954 No free full text.

Abstract: Hepatitis B constitutes a serious public health problem. It has been estimated that 350 million people--approximately 5% of the world population--have been infected by this virus. Of the people infected, in 90% to 95% of them there will be a spontaneous resolution of the disease. In 5% to 10% of the cases, though, the infection will persist and a chronic hepatitis will develop that may evolve leading, in the end, to liver cirrhosis, liver failure and/or carcinoma of the liver. The diagnosis of the different stages of the disease (i.e., acute, chronic infection) is performed using modern serologic techniques. Physicians, more recently, are having access to a series of laboratory tests which permit them to evaluate the viral load, replication of the virus and to testing of the efficacy of new anti-viral drugs. For the treatment of chronic hepatitis B new agents have been tested and some are being used with different degrees of success, such as, alfa-interferon, lamivudine, famciclovir, and adefovir dipivoxil, among others. Active immunization, using modern recombinant vaccines, are lately, the most important instrument of control of the infection caused by the hepatitis B virus.