title: [Symptomatic acute hepatitis C: the importance of diagnosis].
abstract: Chronic infection by the hepatitis C virus (HCV) is one of the leading causes of chronic liver disease with an estimate worldwide prevalence of over 200 million people. Acute hepatitis C infection is usually asymptomatic and rarely identified in clinical practice, leading to chronic infection in about 80% of all cases. However, when symptomatic, only about 50% of acute infections progress to chronicity. Correctly identifying acute HCV infection is of paramount importance once it presents itself as an unique treatment opportunity with sustained virological response of about 90%, which is very distant from the 30% to 80% of sustained virological response achieved with standard chronic HCV treatment. The authors present four cases of acute HCV infection. There was spontaneous viral clearance in two pa- tients at week 12 of follow-up. In one case viral RNA was positive at week 12 but sustained virological response was eventually achieved after peginterferon alpha2a monotherapy.
authors: Serviço de Medicina Interna, Centro hospitalar de Vila Nova de Gaia/espinho EP.E., Portugal. carlosdpfernandes@gmail.com
authors: Carlos
authors: C
authors: Fernandes
authors: Serviço de Medicina Interna, Centro hospitalar de Vila Nova de Gaia/espinho EP.E., Portugal.
authors: Margarida
authors: M
authors: Mota
authors: Serviço de Gastrenterologia, Centro hospitalar de Vila Nova de Gaia/espinho EP.E., Portugal.
authors: Ricardo
authors: R
authors: Veloso
authors: Serviço de Gastrenterologia, Centro hospitalar de Vila Nova de Gaia/espinho EP.E., Portugal.
authors: Rolando
authors: R
authors: Pinho
authors: Serviço de Medicina Interna, Centro hospitalar de Vila Nova de Gaia/espinho EP.E., Portugal.
authors: Vitor
authors: V
authors: Dias
mesh_terms: D000208:Acute Disease; D000328:Adult; D000998:Antiviral Agents / Q000627:therapeutic use; D005260:Female; D016174:Hepacivirus / Q000235:genetics / Q000276:immunology; D006526:Hepatitis C / Q000175:diagnosis* / Q000188:drug therapy; D018937:Hepatitis C Antibodies / Q000097:blood; D006801:Humans; D016898:Interferon-alpha / Q000627:therapeutic use; D008297:Male; D012367:RNA, Viral
chemical_list: D000998:Antiviral Agents; D018937:Hepatitis C Antibodies; D016898:Interferon-alpha; D012367:RNA, Viral