Submitted via IRC for Bytram
Published in the Journal Hepatology, the discovery of the new strains could inform hepatitis C treatment and vaccine development worldwide, and assist the World Health Organisation's aim of eliminating hepatitis C globally.
[...] Dr George S. Mgomella, joint first author on the paper from the Wellcome Sanger Institute and University of Cambridge, said: "In the largest study of hepatitis C in the general population in sub-Saharan Africa to date, we found a diverse range of hepatitis C virus strains circulating, and also discovered new strains that had never been seen before. Further research is needed as some antiviral drugs are effective against specific strains of hepatitis C virus and may not work as well in these populations."
Dr Emma Thomson, a senior author on the paper from Glasgow University, said: "It is important that there is a concerted effort to characterise hepatitis C strains in sub-Saharan Africa at a population level in order to assist countries to select optimal treatments for national procurement. It will also be important to inform vaccine design which would catalyse the elimination of hepatitis C by 2030."
The researchers discovered that current screening methods using antibody detection were inaccurate in Uganda and that detection of the virus itself would likely be a superior method for diagnosing the infection in high-risk populations. The researchers found that many of the strains present carry mutations in genes known to be associated with resistance to some commonly used antiviral drugs, proving that careful approaches are needed to diagnose and treat HCV effectively in Africa.
Dr Manj Sandhu, a senior author on the paper from the Wellcome Sanger Institute and University of Cambridge, said: "Our study highlights the need for more investment on people in Africa and developing parts of the world. We show there are clear differences in HCV across the world, underlining the need for understanding HCV globally. Our work will help inform public health policy and reveals that further studies and clinical trials in sub-Saharan Africa are urgently needed if the WHO is to achieve its vision of eliminating hepatitis C by 2030."
(Score: -1, Troll) by Anonymous Coward on Wednesday December 19 2018, @09:55PM (5 children)
We have a disease problem in Africa. Some people think we should get rid of nuclear weapons. I have a plan. No disease is resistant to being vaporized and then ionized into hot plasma.
If we add in Pakistan and Papua New Guinea, we also cure Polio. Don't you want to cure Polio? Think of the children.
(Score: -1, Troll) by Anonymous Coward on Wednesday December 19 2018, @10:01PM (4 children)
Add in the Middle East and U.K. and you'll have cured the world if mohammadism.
(Score: 1, Offtopic) by c0lo on Wednesday December 19 2018, @11:22PM (3 children)
Guess which country contains the majority of Islamic population of this world?
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Guess which continent contains the majority of the Islamic population of this world?
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aoFiw2jMy-0 https://soylentnews.org/~MichaelDavidCrawford
(Score: -1, Offtopic) by Anonymous Coward on Thursday December 20 2018, @12:37AM (1 child)
OK, so add them to the list. By this point, the only place not infested with Muslims is Antarctica. Penguin jihad, Allah Akbar!
(Score: -1, Offtopic) by Anonymous Coward on Thursday December 20 2018, @01:19AM
If the U.S. nukes anybody on the list, your life is going to start to look like Fallout 76. Assuming you have one.
(Score: -1, Offtopic) by Anonymous Coward on Thursday December 20 2018, @05:05AM
Well, Patton and MacArthur were right. We never finished the war. We could have had true peace.