Tuesday, September 15, 2015

Pasting test

This is a test to see what happens when pasting from Word to Blogger compared to pasting from Word to Notepad to Blogger.

In both cases the final paste is to blogger in the compse window and then checked in the html window

First: Word to blogger



Hepatitis C in Children
—Alan Franciscus, Editor-in-Chief
It is estimated that Hepatitis C (HCV) occurs in about 0.15% of 6-11 year-olds and 0.4% of 12-19 year-olds.  It is estimated that there are 23,000 to 46,000 children in the US with HCV.1  The actual number of children with HCV is unknown because children are not routinely tested for it. 

Prior to 1992, the most common transmission route for HCV in children was through blood transfusion, blood products, and organ transplantation.  Now that blood products and organs are screened for hepatitis C the most frequent transmission of hepatitis C in infants is mother-to-child transmission.  The second most common transmission route in children and teenagers is in those who share equipment to inject drugs (needles, cookers, cotton, water, etc.)  
Transmission of HCV from an HCV-infected mother-to-infant occurs about 6% of the time.  It can occur up to 10% of the time if a mother is coinfected with HIV and hepatitis C.  Also, a high viral load increases the risk of mother-to-infant transmission.   Unfortunately, there are no effective strategies or drugs to prevent the transmission of HCV from mother to child.   

When a baby is born to an HCV-infected mother, the child will acquire the mother’s HCV antibodies.  For this reason, the child will not be tested for HCV antibodies for 18 months.  This is the period that it takes for the baby’s body to clear out the mother’s antibodies.


Second: Word to Notepad, then notepad to blogger

Hepatitis C in Children
—Alan Franciscus, Editor-in-Chief
It is estimated that Hepatitis C (HCV) occurs in about 0.15% of 6-11 year-olds and 0.4% of 12-19 year-olds.  It is estimated that there are 23,000 to 46,000 children in the US with HCV.1  The actual number of children with HCV is unknown because children are not routinely tested for it. 

Prior to 1992, the most common transmission route for HCV in children was through blood transfusion, blood products, and organ transplantation.  Now that blood products and organs are screened for hepatitis C the most frequent transmission of hepatitis C in infants is mother-to-child transmission.  The second most common transmission route in children and teenagers is in those who share equipment to inject drugs (needles, cookers, cotton, water, etc.)  
Transmission of HCV from an HCV-infected mother-to-infant occurs about 6% of the time.  It can occur up to 10% of the time if a mother is coinfected with HIV and hepatitis C.  Also, a high viral load increases the risk of mother-to-infant transmission.   Unfortunately, there are no effective strategies or drugs to prevent the transmission of HCV from mother to child.   

When a baby is born to an HCV-infected mother, the child will acquire the mother’s HCV antibodies.  For this reason, the child will not be tested for HCV antibodies for 18 months.  This is the period that it takes for the baby’s body to clear out the mother’s antibodies.

Friday, July 31, 2015

Miracle Dog Saves The Day

FDA OK’s BMS Daklinza (Daclatasvir) to Treat Hep C Genotype 3

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has approved Bristol-Myers Squibb’s (BMS) NS5A inhibitor Daklinza (daclatasvir) to be used in combination with Gilead Sciences’ Sovaldi (sofosbuvir) to treat genotype 3 of hepatitis C. This is the first hep C regimen ever to be specifically approved for genotype 3, and it improves cure rates over other currently available treatments. However, the cure rate anticipated for those with cirrhosis is still quite poor.

Twelve weeks of once-daily regimen is recommended.

An estimated 12 percent of Americans with hep C are infected with genotype 3. It is the second most common genotype in the United States, behind genotype 1, which makes up about 70 percent of the U.S. epidemic. Read more....

Hepatitis C warning from the state

 A week ago we told you that Hepatitis C was almost at epidemic status.  Now the state health department says beware it

A week ago, we told you that Hepatitis C was almost at epidemic status. Now the state health department says beware it's there. More than 100,000 people in Tennessee are living with it and don't even know they're infected, it could be you.

We talked to a girl who has it. She was a good girl who got in with the wrong crowd. Now she's got a life threatening illness that could steal her away from her children. By the way, we'll call her Amy since she wants to keep her identity hidden. Read more....

Gilead Sales Soar on Hepatitis Drugs - Sales of Harvoni, Sovaldi top estimates despite increased competition

Gilead Sciences Inc. said its two key hepatitis C drugs, Sovaldi and Harvoni, generated about $4.9 billion in sales in the second quarter, topping Wall Street estimates, thanks to better-than-expected sales of the newer Harvoni.

For the year, the company again raised its guidance for net product sales, this time by $1 billion, and now expects sales to reach $29 billion to $30 billion.

Shares of Gilead, up 24% over the past year, rose 3.2% to $116.99 in recent after-hours trading.

Read more...http://www.wsj.com/articles/gilead-sales-soar-on-hepatitis-drugs-1438114949

Thursday, July 23, 2015

The Top 5 Best Analyst Coverage on Gilead Sciences, Inc (GILD) Ahead of Earnings

Gilead Sciences, Inc. (NASDAQ:GILD) will release second quarter earnings on Tuesday, July 28. The biopharmaceutical giant is most known for its hepatitis C drugs, Harvoni and Sovaldi. Several analysts weighed in on Gilead after the company posted a strong earnings report in May. Here are the top 5 analysts to follow ahead of the upcoming earnings release:

1. Alan Carr of Needham most recently weighed in on Gilead on May 1, reiterating a Buy rating on the stock with an unchanged priced target of $120. Carr made the rating in light of the company’s first quarter earnings report in which the company posted better-than-expected results. The analyst attributed the strong earnings to Harvoni and to an adjustment made in Branded Prescription Fee. At the time, the analyst correctly predicted that Harvoni would be approved in Japan later in the year. He also commented, “Top-line results from Phase 3 ASTRAL program testing 12-wk sof/ GS-5816 [a pipeline drug aimed at chronic HCV infection] are expected in 3Q15, followed by NDA submission in 4Q15.” The pipeline drug is still in Phase 3 testing.

Alan Carr has rated Gilead 15 times since February 2012, earning a 100% success rate recommending the stock and a +55.4% average return per GILD rating when measured over a one-year horizon and no benchmark.


READ MORE...
http://www.smarteranalyst.com/2015/07/23/top-5-analysts-to-watch-ahead-of-gilead-sciences-incs-gild-earnings/

New Drug Combination Treats Hepatitis C Patients Also Infected With HIV

Roughly 20 percent to 30 percent of patients with hepatitis C virus (HCV) are also infected with human immunodeficiency virus type 1 (HIV). Both bloodborne viruses share the same modes of transmission, but many HCV medications currently have significant limitations due to adverse interactions with HIV treatments. Researchers at University of California, San Diego School of Medicine report a new combination that effectively treats HCV in patients co-infected with HIV.

The study, published online in the New England Journal of Medicine, found the combination of HCV drugs daclatasvir and sofosbuvir -- both pills -- cured HCV in 97 percent of patients also infected with HIV.

"In many HCV/HIV co-infected patients, HCV therapies can have a strong interaction with HIV medications that complicate or potentially exclude them from HCV treatment," says David Wyles, MD, lead author of the study in the Division of Infectious Diseases. "This study is novel because it shows the new drug combination was not compromised when used with a wide range of HIV medications, increasing the number of HCV/HIV patients who can be treated without modifying their HIV medications."

READ MORE...http://www.infectioncontroltoday.com/news/2015/07/new-drug-combination-treats-hepatitis-c-patients-also-infected-with-hiv.aspx

Saturday, June 6, 2015

Collaborative launches 'Step Up. Get Tested'

The Chicago HIV Testing Collaborative ( CHTC ) launched its fourth annual "Step Up. Get Tested. "( SUGT ) campaign June 5 at the State of Illinois James R. Thompson Center plaza. This year the campaign has partnered with Harmony Health Plan of Illinois, a subsidiary of WellCare Health Plans, Inc., on the monthlong initiative to get people tested at a variety of Chicagoland locations.

As a result of Harmony Health Plan's involvement, SUGT will include not only HIV testing but also testing for hepatitis C, diabetes and blood pressure. By offering to test for other things outside of HIV, SUGT is hoping that more people will decide to get tested.

"The SUGT Chicago HIV Testing Collaborative is elated to have Harmony as a partner," said Anne Carmack of The CORE Foundation, a 501c3 affiliate of the Ruth M. Rothstein CORE Center, CHTC's fiscal agent. "This partnership has allowed CHTC to greatly expand its SUGT campaign components relative to past years."

RAED MORE...

http://www.windycitymediagroup.com/lgbt/Collaborative-launches-Step-Up-Get-Tested-/51706.html

Appalachia gripped by hepatitis C epidemic, bracing for HIV

KNOXVILLE, Tenn. (WATE) – The Centers for Disease Control has spotted a disturbing trend in recent years where more young people in the Appalachian region are contracting hepatitis C.

A recent study looked at Kentucky, Virginia, West Virginia and Tennessee, and found correlation between more people injecting prescription painkillers and getting the virus.

Hepatitis causes liver problems. Doctors say it can lead to liver cancer or even death.


READ MORE...

http://wkrn.com/2015/06/04/appalachia-gripped-by-hepatitis-c-epidemic-bracing-for-hiv/

Thursday, June 4, 2015

Hedge Fund Billionaires Are New Target for Hepatitis C Cure Protests

The New York City home and offices of former hedge fund manager Julian H. Robertson were targeted by protest groups in a series of simultaneous direct actions in early May. Robertson is ranked No. 512 on Forbes' list of "the world's billionaires" with a reported net worth of $3.4 billion. "Robertson is making a killing off of people with Hep C," read one sign.

The protests targeted high profile hedge fund investors who have reaped substantial profits from the California-based pharmaceutical giant Gilead Sciences. Hedge Clippers, a coalition of labor, community and social justice groups including VOCAL-NY, seeks to draw links between hedge funds and income inequality, mass imprisonment, climate change, health disparities, and other challenges. Gilead has been targeted because of what has been called "exorbitant" pricing for its groundbreaking new class of drugs that can cure hepatitis C virus (HCV), such as Sovaldi, and the enormous profits they have generated.

HCV infection "is the most common chronic blood borne infection in the United States [and] approximately 3.2 million persons are chronically infected," according to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). About 150 million people around the globe are living with HCV -- disproportionately the poor, uninsured and incarcerated -- which in its advanced stages can cause cirrhosis or liver cancer.

READ MORE...


http://www.thebody.com/content/75897/hedge-fund-billionaires-are-new-target-for-hepatit.html

Wednesday, June 3, 2015

Hepatitis C in Claiborne Jail: Sheriff warns of worrisome inmate test results

Last week, Claiborne Sheriff David Ray publicly announced recent inmate test results conducted by the Tennessee Department of Health.

Ray spent more than a few minutes discussing worrisome hepatitis C tests during the regular monthly meeting of the Claiborne Correctional Partnership Act Committee, commonly referred to as the jail committee.


He prefaced the subject by saying he felt the jail committee had “a right to know.” Ray said the free testing, conducted a day before the committee meeting, netted 34 positives from the 37 inmates administered the test.

Pa. law prohibits needle exchanges that can save lives

Tens of thousands of Pennsylvanians crave daily injections of heroin. Beyond the threat of overdose is the threat of being exposed to HIV and hepatitis C, both deadly and expensive illnesses that are easily spread through contaminated needles.

But in Pennsylvania, distributing sterile syringes is a criminal act.

For years, Dianna Pagan feared that giving out clean syringes in Reading would land her in jail. Officials there recently agreed to let her needle exchange operate, though she’s faced numerous setbacks for more than a decade, including being shut down following the threat of prosecution.


READ MORE....


http://www.observer-reporter.com/article/20150602/NEWS01/150609913

Tuesday, June 2, 2015

Southern Illinois sees shocking rise of Hepatitis C

Cases of Hepatitis C -- a blood borne virus that attacks the liver and is spread via shared drug needles, unsterile tattoos and other means -- are on the rise. It's a "silent epidemic" waiting to strike many unsuspecting Baby Boomers and young adults, health officials warn, because the liver has a long memory. Even if you have forgotten what you did this past weekend, or in the freewheeling 1970s, your liver did not.

Hoping to stem the tide of premature deaths from liver-related complications, lawmakers narrowly passed a bill in recent days that would require doctors to offer screening tests for patients considered high-risk for Hepatitis C.

It is curable in most cases, but left undetected can lead to cirrhosis of the liver and death.

READ MORE...


http://thesouthern.com/news/local/southern-illinois-sees-shocking-rise-of-hepatitis-c/article_66374e5f-a0a6-5740-851d-a0578c765488.html

Merck Drug Seeks FDA Approval for 3 Hepatitis C Genotypes

Merck is seeking FDA approval for its once-daily, single-tablet grazoprevir/elbasvir combination for the treatment of adult patients with chronic hepatitis C virus (HCV) genotypes 1, 4, or 6 infection.

Grazoprevir 100 mg/elbasvir 50 mg previously received Breakthrough Therapy designation from the FDA for the treatment of patients with chronic HCV genotype 1 with end-stage renal disease on hemodialysis, as well as patients infected with chronic HCV genotype 4.

Merck’s submission for the drug’s FDA approval is partially based on positive data from the C-EDGE trial program, as well as the C-SURFER and C-SALVAGE trials, which evaluated the investigational combination with or without ribavirin in chronic HCV patients.

READ MORE...

http://www.pharmacytimes.com/product-news/Merck-Drug-Seeks-FDA-Approval-for-3-Hepatitis-C-Genotypes?utm_source=GoogleNews&utm_medium=GoogleNews&utm_campaign=PharmacyTimesNews

Monday, June 1, 2015

Hepatitis virus variations responsible for variations in liver cancer

CHICAGO, IL—Significant clinical variations exist among patients with hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC), the most common type of liver cancer. These variations depend on the viral cause of the disease, which can be hepatitis B virus (HBV) or hepatitis C virus (HCV). These differences suggest that hepatitis status should be considered when developing treatment plans for patients with newly diagnosed HCC. These findings were presented at the 2015 American Society of Clinical Oncology (ASCO) Annual Meeting.

 “Currently, a patient's form of hepatitis is not a factor in treatment planning, but the two types of the virus result in different disease impacts and some variations in outcomes,” said principal investigator, Ahmed Kaseb, MD, associate professor, Gastrointestinal (GI) Medical Oncology at The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center.

“Most likely, this is related to the difference in how hepatitis leads to cancer development, in addition to the differences in the natural history of both hepatitis forms. This might be the result of treating technically different diseases the same way. This study provides more evidence that future clinical trials should stratify patients by hepatitis type to help identify better drugs and create personalized treatment modalities.”


READ MORE...

http://www.oncologynurseadvisor.com/web-exclusives/hepatitis-virus-variations-responsible-for-variations-in-liver-cancer/article/417366/

Sunday, May 31, 2015

Three-Quarters of People with Hepatitis C were Born between 1945 and 1965

Although some of the focus on Hepatitis C is on its effect on younger patients, three-quarters of those afflicted with the disease are baby boomers.

Americans born from 1945 to 1965 are five times more likely to have Hepatitis C than other adults, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC).

About 2.25 million of the 3 million with Hep C are in this age group.

READ MORE...



http://www.allgov.com/news/unusual-news/three-quarters-of-people-with-hepatitis-c-were-born-between-1945-and-1965-150530?news=856603

Senator Kirk Joins American Legion to Raise Hepatitis C Awareness for Veterans

In an effort to raise hepatitis C virus (HCV) awareness for veterans, U.S. Senator Mark Kirk (R-Ill.) joined Marty Conatser, Adjutant of the American Legion Department of Illinois, Paul Gardner, Senior Vice Commander of the American Legion Department of Illinois, and Argo Summit Post Commander Reggie Rice at a free Hepatitis C testing event in Summit, IL. Service Officers from the American Legion and representatives from the Department of Veterans Affairs were also present to counsel veterans on VA benefit claims and recommend next steps for HCV medical care to any veterans that tested positive for the virus.

“In the Department of Veterans Affairs we have cured more people of Hepatitis C in the last 16 months than in the last 16 years,” Senator Kirk said. “We will continue work to make sure that those who wore the uniform can have a better life.”

Last week, Senator Kirk’s bipartisan Military Construction and Veterans Affairs (MilCon/VA) fiscal year 2016 appropriations bill, which funds $900 million worth of groundbreaking new hepatitis C treatments, was passed by the Appropriations Committee. One in ten veterans has HCV, with the risk increasing to one in five for Vietnam veterans. However, once an individual is diagnosed, new Hepatitis C treatments have a 97 percent cure rate. Last year the VA treated approximately 20,000 veterans with these modern, innovative medicines.

READ MORE...


http://www.enewspf.com/latest-news/latest-national/military-casualties/61719-senator-kirk-joins-american-legion-to-raise-hepatitis-c-awareness-for-veterans.html

Thursday, May 28, 2015

How Hep C survives immune system attacks

Hi Rose:  You have to add the  Read more....yourself

You type in Read more... after the 3 paragraphs and then italicize it

Read more....

Then you highlight the "Read more..." and select Link

Then you add the link

Wow.   You are doing great


Warring armies use a variety of tactics as they struggle to gain the upper hand. Among their tricks is to attack with a decoy force that occupies the defenders while an unseen force launches a separate attack that the defenders fail to notice.

A study published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences suggests that the Hepatitis C virus (HCV) may employ similar tactics to distract the body's natural defenses. After infecting patients, Hepatitis C evolves many variants, among them an "altruistic" group of viral particles that appears to sacrifice itself to protect other mutants from the body's immune system.

The findings, reported by researchers from the Georgia Institute of Technology and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), could help guide development of future vaccines and treatments for the virus, which affects an estimated 170 million people in the world. Developing slowly over many years and often without symptoms, Hepatitis C can cause severe liver damage and cancer. There are currently no vaccines for the disease.




DAVID..I got this far but can't find the "READ MORE" .

I'll practice some more & we can take it up when you get back from vacation.

Tuesday, May 26, 2015

How to post to the blog: Cost in the way of a cure for hepatitis C

Go to http://roseandcd.blogspot.ca/ and sign in.. (you will see something on the top right hand ).. Once signed in, you will see on the top right hand  "New Post".. Click on that.. and the post window opens.

You will see on the left  a compose  and an html button..  Click on compose


 In another browser window

Find a news item that you want to use

I found this one at http://citizensvoice.com/news/cost-in-the-way-of-a-cure-for-hepatitis-c-1.1887541

So.  I then copied the title and pasted it in the title above (Post)

Then on the right hand side under Search Description paste the title again.


Now.. Select no more that 3 paragraphs of pertinent info from the article and copy it to your clipboard

Paste it into Notepad and then copy it from Notepad to your blog post   This is to strip out any code.. When you get good at this you will be able to identify the weird code in the "html" window and work there.

Okay: here the pasted paragraphs.



Dee’s liver is scarred, but just a bit too healthy for her insurance to foot the bill for the new medications that cure hepatitis C more than 90 percent of the time.

The Butler County resident, who suspects she got the virus getting a tattoo, was recently told by her doctor to come back in a year.

John, a retired small-business owner from Washington County who was given blood in the early 1990s, was also denied the antivirals. Now, as he watches a friend grow weak from liver cancer, he fears he’s glimpsing his future.



They look okay but to check if the paragraphs are really going to work you need to make sure (in html window) that there is this code between the paragraphs  <br /> <br /> 

If these are missing then the paragraphs won't work.

There is another way to do this.. Save and publish the post and then check it.. If the spacing is wonky it only shows up AFTER you publish it.. (great..eh??)     In which case you need to edit the post (you will see a Pencil at the bottom of the published post if you are logged in ).. You click on the pencil.

Then you can either try to work in the "Compose Window" and simply hit return twice to put paragraph returns in where you know they should go (this does NOT always work), or you can go to the html window and insert the <br /> <br />   there..  <br /> <br />  only "works" in the html window.  If you put it in the main body of text in the Compose window it only functions as text and not code.

Having made it this far

You now put in

Read more...

You then select the Read more... and at the top select the "I" to italicize it.  You then go to the article you are referencing and grab the link  http://citizensvoice.com/news/cost-in-the-way-of-a-cure-for-hepatitis-c-1.1887541

Now select Read more and at the top of the compose window you will see a "Link" icon..  Click on that

Past the link there and select open in new window and okay

Read more...

Now on the top right you will see Post Settings.. Click on labels and start to enter the tags.. This is an auto complete so there will be suggestions.. This post would need, Personal Stories, cost of treatment, disease progression.

Then click Publish

Then check your work

D