Abstract
Significant development in the treatment of chronic virus hepatitis type C in the last years has started a new revolutionary era of therapy and made it possible - after some two decades - to give up the injection application of interferon or pegylated interferon, replacing these with fully oral treatment. The current therapy, as compared to the former one, has minimum side effects, is tolerated much better, can be used for a shorter period of time and, last but not least, hugely increases the chances at cure.
In most tested and already used therapeutic regimens, the likelihood of cure is over 90 per cent. Key factors guiding decisions about the type and length of therapy as well as its effectiveness are the stage of liver fibrosis (or cirrhosis), genotype of the virus, and - possibly - the type of previous unsuccessful treatment.
Another advantage corresponds to the possibility of non-invasive detection of liver cirrhosis stage (using serology or elastography), not requiring liver biopsy. The prerequisites of successful fight against this disease and of positive shifts in morbidity and mortality are not only the highly effective therapy but also meticulous screening in at-risk groups and active search for infected patients.