Fluvastatin found to lower hepatitis C virus

A new study has found an effective way to lower levels of the hepatitis C virus.

Researchers at the OU Health Sciences Centre found that the drug Fluvastatin significantly lowered the viral load of hepatitis C for up to six weeks when used alone.

Fluvastatin has been used since 1993 as treatment for elevated cholesterol and millions of Americans has taken the drug without difficulty.

The study involved 31 veterans at the Administration Medical Centre in Oklahoma City and although Fluvastatin did not completely clear the virus, researchers have started a second phase trial combining the drug with a standard hepatitis treatment of peg-interferon and ribavirin.

Ted Bader, principal investigator on the project, said that additional drugs need to be tested to improve the cure rate.

"When patients are cured, they feel dramatically better, their health care costs plummet, their risk of liver cancer drops dramatically, and if they do not have cirrhosis, they will not need a liver transplant," he explained.

Recently, as many as 40,000 people who used a Las Vegas clinic were urged to be tested for hepatitis C after the centre was found to be responsible for "unsafe injection practises", reports the BBC.