In the March issue of the journal PLoS Pathogens, Timothy Tellinghuisen, an assistant professor in the department of infectology at Scripps Florida, and his team describe how they used mutations of the virus to disrupt the production of virus particles that cause hepatitis C.
It might be a first step in developing new and more effective therapies against the virus. Current anti-viral is ineffective for the majority of patients infected with the viral strains most prevalent in the United States.
Hepatitis C is a significant human virus, infecting more than 3 percent of the world's population. The incidence of infection in the United States has been estimated as high as 4 million cases. Hepatitis C infection is roughly five to seven times more prevalent than HIV. Most new hepatitis C infections are caused by illegal drug injections and sharing needles.