Hepatitis C breakthrough cure going to waste because 500,000 Britons unaware they have virus

• Herpes can result in liver failure if left without treatment
• 'We risk seeing a whole generation lose their opportunity to live a lengthy and healthy life'

By Claire Bates

Advances in strategy to hepatitis C mean greater than 70 percent of service providers could be healed if it's identified early. Yet the majority of the 500, 000 individuals with the problem are not aware they're infected, a specialist stated today.

Mark Wright, an advisor hepatologist at Southampton General Hospital, stated there is an undesirable knowledge of who might be in danger in the bloodstream-borne virus.

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Hepatitis C causes inflammation and skin damage from the liver tissue and can result in cirrhosis or liver failure, but many sufferers are not aware they've the condition.

The warning comes in front of the roll-from two new drugs - Telaprevir and Boceprevir - within the NHS later this season that can help tackle herpes.

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The brand new remedies, which are used at Southampton included in a number of pioneering studies in the Wellcome Trust Clinical Research Facility, work by directly attacking the problem, stopping it from distributing or recreating.

Electron micrograph of hepatitis virions, that are etiologic agents for viral hepatitis

'Hepatitis C is really a tricky virus which frequently leads to liver damage before it causes any signs and symptoms so, with the majority of the believed 500, 000 affected individuals the United kingdom not aware they've the condition, you can easily see we're on harmful ground,' stated Dr Wright.

'Yet the tragedy famous this really is that, when we're not seeing the big amounts of individuals we all know are infected coming forward because of ongoing poor knowledge of the potential risks, remedies still improve and more powerful yet may, sadly, be wasted when we can't have this vital message through.

'We risk seeing a whole generation lose their opportunity to live a healthy, lengthy and healthy existence within the worst possible conditions once the treatment methods are there and readily available for individuals who recognise they're vulnerable.'

Anybody who'd a bloodstream transfusion just before 1990, has ever shared needles to inject drugs, has already established health care abroad or has tats is vulnerable to hepatitis C.

The condition may also be sent through intercourse.

Dr Wright added: 'If you realize you've place yourself in danger you need to speak to your physician about getting examined since the disease is curable and increasing numbers of people could be healed because of a lot of new medications for example individuals getting used and examined within Southampton.

'If you'll be able to obvious herpes and prevent it coming back, the condition process halts and also the liver rebounds.'