Assuntos
Betacoronavirus , Controle de Doenças Transmissíveis/organização & administração , Infecções por Coronavirus/epidemiologia , Educação Médica/organização & administração , Gastroenterologia/educação , Pneumonia Viral/epidemiologia , Austrália , COVID-19 , Infecções por Coronavirus/prevenção & controle , Infecções por Coronavirus/transmissão , Humanos , Pandemias/prevenção & controle , Pneumonia Viral/prevenção & controle , Pneumonia Viral/transmissão , SARS-CoV-2RESUMO
The treatment of chronic hepatitis C is relatively unsatisfactory and many patients have turned to unproven alternative medicines to modify the course of their illness. We report a study of a Chinese herbal medicine preparation CH-100 in the management of chronic hepatitis C. Patients with documented chronic hepatitis C were randomly allocated to receive active herbal or placebo tablets (five tablets thrice daily). Patients were followed monthly and evaluated by a Western and a traditional Chinese medical practitioner. Therapy was monitored by measurement of liver function tests, creatinine and full blood count on a monthly basis. Twenty patients in each group were well matched for age, sex, duration of illness, previous interferon therapy and alcohol intake. Active Chinese herbal medication was associated with a significant reduction in alanine aminotransferase (ALT) levels over the 6 month study period (P < 0.03). No patient cleared the virus but four normalized their ALT on treatment. Appropriately prescribed Chinese herbal medicine may have a role in the management of chronic hepatitis C and further controlled studies are indicated.
Assuntos
Medicamentos de Ervas Chinesas/uso terapêutico , Hepatite C Crônica/tratamento farmacológico , Adolescente , Adulto , Idoso , Alanina Transaminase/sangue , Método Duplo-Cego , Medicamentos de Ervas Chinesas/efeitos adversos , Feminino , Hepatite C Crônica/sangue , Hepatite C Crônica/genética , Humanos , Testes de Função Hepática , Masculino , Pessoa de Meia-Idade , RNA Viral/análise , Resultado do TratamentoRESUMO
Hepatitis B remains a major public health problem around the world. The discovery of the hepatitis C virus has diverted interest from hepatitis B to this new virus and the epidemic associated with it, but hepatitis B remains a significant pathogen for millions of people worldwide. The World Health Organization has suggested that universal vaccination of children against hepatitis B should be implemented in an attempt to reduce the enormous morbidity and mortality associated with infection of this virus group. The review seeks to identify all the newer discoveries relating to hepatitis B that have been made in the past decade. Reference is made to the appearance of hepatitis B mutants which are able to infect patients previously infected with the wild strain of the virus. The implications of mutants on vaccination programmes is raised, as are issues relating to treatment of hepatitis B infection.