Sovaldi and Olysio: Novel Antiviral Treatment for Hepatitis C
Hepatitis C is a viral disease that leads to inflammation of the liver, and is part of the Hepatitis virus family, Flaviviridae, of which A and B are the most well known. Chronic hepatitis C virus (HCV) infection leads to scarring of the liver and cirrhosis, which a significantly heightened chance of liver failure and/or liver cancer. While HCV occurs only in human and chimpanzees, it is a highly transmissible virus that occurs through blood contact often in medical, hard labor intensive, sexual intercourse and intravenous drug use settings. Hepatitis C infections are predominantly treated with a medication cocktail consisting of peginterferon and ribavirin, which had a 50% success rate, and would commonly induce multiple side effects such as flu-like symptoms, anemia and depression (FN). In late 2013, the Federal Drug Administration approved two new non-interferon antiviral drugs to treat Hepatitis C, Gilead's Sovaldi (sofosbuvir) and Johnson and Johnson's Olysio (simeprevir). In test trials involving 197 patients who were not responsive to interferon, the paired administration of Sovaldi and Olysio was shown to clear 90 percent of the Hepatitis C virus (FN).
Until now, therapies for hepatitis C helped only about half of patients and posed numerous side effects, such as flu-like symptoms, anemia or depression. In comparison, clinical trials of Sovaldi and Olysio have shown cure rates of 80% to 90% with far fewer complications.
That progress, though, comes at a price.
A 12-week course of Sovaldi can cost $84,000, or about $1,000 a pill, and some patients may require two courses. Treatment with Olysio runs more than $66,000. Using either one, many patients wouldn't require significant treatment again.
http://www.latimes.com/business/la-fi-hepatitis-c-drug-costs-20140310,0,5308461.story#ixzz2vcG4rTW5
Section 1
At right is a sample image insertion. It works for any image uploaded anywhere to MicrobeWiki. The insertion code consists of:
Double brackets: [[
Filename: Ebola virus 1.jpeg
Thumbnail status: |thumb|
Pixel size: |300px|
Placement on page: |right|
Legend/credit: Electron micrograph of the Ebola Zaire virus. This was the first photo ever taken of the virus, on 10/13/1976. By Dr. F.A. Murphy, now at U.C. Davis, then at the CDC.
Closed double brackets: ]]
Other examples:
Bold
Italic
Subscript: H2O
Superscript: Fe3+
Overall paper length should be 3,000 words, with at least 3 figures with data.
Section 2
Include some current research in each topic, with at least one figure showing data.
Section 3
Include some current research in each topic, with at least one figure showing data.
Further Reading
[Sample link] Ebola Hemorrhagic Fever—Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Special Pathogens Branch
References
Edited by (your name here), a student of Nora Sullivan in BIOL168L (Microbiology) in The Keck Science Department of the Claremont Colleges Spring 2014.
