Advances in Treatment of Hepatitis C

Abstract

Eleven million children younger than 15 years of age are infected with hepatitis C (HCV), half of them are viremic. Although the majority of them are asymptomatic and the percentage of children with an advanced liver disease and liver cirrhosis is low, as time passes by it grows together as the risk of development of hepatocellular carcinoma also rises. Since 2011 interferon-free regiments are available for treatment of HCV in adults and since 2017 in children. In this article we briefly review the history, evolution, epidemiology of HCV, current and future treatment opportunities with direct-acting antiviral drugs (DMD) in pediatric age.