Risk of adverse outcomes following treatment with direct acting antiviral drugs in HCV infected patients with liver cirrhosis.

Introduction: Hepatitis C virus (HCV) is the second major cause of death in Pakistan. Previously, interferon-based regimens were considered highly recommended therapy for HCV patients. Since 2015, interferon-based therapy has been replaced with interferon-free therapy also known as Direct Acting Antiviral (DAA) drugs. The treatment response of interferon-free regimens has been reported as highly effective treatment option with more than 90% sustained virological response (SVR) in chronic HCV infected patients in western countries of the world. Objective: This study aims to analyze the treatment response of DAA drugs in HCV-infected Pakistani population with liver cirrhosis. Methodology: We collected the total 94 sample of the HCV infected patients, from June 2020 to September 2020. Forty-six (46) patients were cirrhotic, and forty-eight (48) patients were non-cirrhotic. Data was analyzed using IBM SPSS version 21 software. Conclusion: The findings of our study suggest that the response rate was 82.60% in HCV cirrhotic patients and 68.75% in HCV non-cirrhotic patients. Our study showed that overall treatment response was independent of age and gender. We also observed some adverse effects such as hepatocellular carcinoma, portosystemic encephalopathy (PSE), spontaneous bacterial peritonitis (SBP), hepatorenal syndrome (HRS), upper gastrointestinal bleeding (UGIB), ascites, among patients following treatment with interferon-free regimens.

An update on Sars-CoV-2: a review.

Sars-CoV-2 is a new global health challenge that was declared a pandemic in March 2020. In just 6 months, the virus had infected more than 7.5 million population worldwide, and in 10 months infected over 40 million. Clinical manifestation of Sars-CoV-2 range from mild symptoms like sneezing, coughing, cold and fever to severe respiratory complications such as pneumonia and acute distress respiratory syndrome, sepsis, and multiple organ failure. The virus is highly contagious and transmits through respiratory droplets. Currently, there is no treatment option available to treat Sars-CoV-2. Several research groups are working to explore different aspects of virus but further research is needed to fill the knowledge gaps. Herein, this review article provides latest update on genomic characterization, transmission, diagnosis, treatment, and clinical manifestation of Sars-CoV-2.