Yuan Zhenghong: We still have more challenges to overcome hepatitis C virus

The discovery of the hepatitis C virus has found a cause of hepatitis in humans. ——Yuan Zhenghong

Professor Yuan Zhenghong, Party Secretary of Shanghai Medical College of Fudan University, explained the hepatitis C virus as follows: First of all, it is a virus. A virus is a very tiny microorganism. It is so small that it can only be seen under an electron microscope at a magnification of 1 million times. The virus can only survive in the host's cells. Therefore, after this virus enters and interferes with our human body, it can cause human diseases.

Since the discovery of the hepatitis C virus, pharmaceutical companies around the world have developed many effective antiviral drugs. If regular treatment is adopted, the virus clearance rate can generally reach more than 90%, and some can even achieve 100% virus clearance rate, so hepatitis C can be basically cured clinically.

"We believe this is the biggest progress made since the discovery of hepatitis C. Despite this, there are still many problems. For example, antiviral drugs are still relatively expensive and may not be available to many people. In this case, some people still cannot get effective treatment. At the same time, hepatitis C drugs may have different effects and reactions in different patient populations. In addition, the hepatitis C virus is an RNA virus, it may mutate or form new subtypes. This requires us to develop some new drugs so that it can achieve good results among different populations. Therefore, we must continue to research and discover more and more effective drugs." said Yuan Zhenghong.

It is understood that the hepatitis C virus enters the liver through the blood and replicates in the liver cells, and then causes liver cell necrosis and inflammation through interaction with the immune system, which is the most direct damage to the human body. At the same time, infection with the hepatitis C virus may also affect some other organ systems, and diabetes may also be related to hepatitis C virus infection.

Yuan Zhenghong mentioned that the public needs to raise awareness of the prevention and treatment of hepatitis C virus. "Although hepatitis C is mainly transmitted through blood, we have found that some people are infected with hepatitis C virus through other channels, including some irregular vaccinations and operations. Therefore, we need to raise safety awareness in personal living habits to prevent the virus from being transmitted through the blood."

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