HEPATITIS C VACCINE
As many as 200-million people around the world have hepatitis C, and researchers expect that number to triple in the next decade. The virus can cause liver cancer and even death. There may soon be a way to prevent it.
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It's been called the silent epidemic.
Four-million Americans now live with it. And there's no cure.
Kathie Bryson is one of the victims. She has hepatitis C. She got it through a needle she touched while working as a nurse.
Kathie Bryson
Has hepatitis C
"The first thing out of my mouth was, I didn't do anything wrong. I was terrified because I knew that hepatitis C was pretty much a killer."
Kathie also developed liver cancer. After surgery and four months of chemo, she's just happy to be alive.
Kathie Bryson
"I kind of laugh that every day if I wake up, and I'm not feeling good, I know I'm still here. I say if I wake up one day and I feel great, then I'll know I've died."
Hepatitis C is a contagious virus that travels through the bloodstream and infects the liver.
Now, researchers at Saint Louis University are testing the first vaccine in humans to prevent hepatitis C.
Sharon Frey, MD
Infectious Disease Specialist
Saint Louis University School of Medicine
St. Louis, MO
"This is an infection that causes a very bad disease. If we can find something to prevent people from becoming infected, that would be a great thing."
In the study, 60 patients received four different doses of the vaccine. All the patients produced antibodies that researchers believe could protect them from the virus.
Sharon Frey, MD
"If a vaccine can develop those responses, hopefully then it will protect a person from becoming infected or developing disease."
Kathie hopes it will.
Kathie Bryson
"It would be incredible. It would be a blessing. I just hope that I live long enough to see it."
So far, she's beaten the odds and hopes others will get a chance to do the same.
The only side effects of the vaccine were pain and tenderness. Hepatitis C is transmitted through blood and sexual intercourse. You can also get it through needles or blood transfusions.
HEPATITIS C: Hepatitis C is a blood-borne viral disease that can cause liver inflammation, fibrosis, cirrhosis and liver cancer. The hepatitis C virus is spread by blood-to-blood contact with an infected person's blood. Many people with the virus have no symptoms and are unaware of the need to seek treatment. Hepatitis C infects an estimated 150 million to 200 million people worldwide. It is the leading cause of liver transplants.
DIAGNOSIS: Hepatitis C virus causes approximately 10,000 deaths annually and is responsible for almost half of the 4,000 liver transplants each year. Few people are able to clear the virus from their blood, which is necessary to be completely recovered. Over 70 percent of the cases reported each year become chronic, which means liver enzyme levels remain elevated for at least six months after the initial acute infection. The enzymes alanine aminotransferase (ALT) and aspartate aminotransferase (AST) are released when liver cells are injured or die. Elevated ALT and AST levels may appear and disappear throughout the course of the infection. The majority of people who are infected with the hepatitis C virus don't even know because of the silent nature (absence of symptoms) of the disease. Some people may even harbor this virus for 20 or more years before they discover they have it. An estimated 4 million Americans are chronically infected with hepatitis C virus. The death rate is expected to triple within the next 20 years
NEW VACCINE: Researchers from Saint Louis University are testing an investigational vaccine for the first time in humans that could prevent infection for the virus. The successful development of such a vaccine would represent a major step in combating this growing health problem. "There is currently no licensed vaccine to protect against the hepatitis C virus," Sharon Frey, M.D., principal investigator for the study and associate professor of internal medicine at Saint Louis University School of Medicine, says. "Our research is important because infection with hepatitis C virus is a major health problem throughout the world." The purpose of the research is to study the safety and effectiveness of four different strengths of the Chiron Corporation's investigational hepatitis vaccine. "This is the first time this hepatitis vaccine will be tested in humans," Frey says. "A vaccine to prevent the infection would be an important breakthrough in controlling the spread of the hepatitis C virus."
Nancy Solomon
Saint Louis University Medical Center
3525 Caroline Mall
Saint Louis, MO 63104
(314) 977-8017
solomonn@slu.edu
www.slu.edu
Copyright © 2006 Ivanhoe Broadcast News, Inc.
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