C-WORTHY: the beginning of the rise of elbasvir and grazoprevir for the treatment of hepatitis C genotype 1 mono and HIV co-infected patients

Hepatitis C virus (HCV) is one of the most common blood borne pathogens in the world. Recent studies estimate that the worldwide prevalence of anti-HCV is 115 million (1.6%), of which 80 million are thought to be viremic (1.1%) (1). Based on data from the National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (NHANES), prevalence in the United States is reported to be 2.7–3.9 million, though the likely true prevalence of chronic HCV infection is closer to 5–7 million (2,3). Chronic HCV infection is the leading cause of end stage liver disease, hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) and liver transplantation in the United States. It is also estimated that there are greater than 19,000 deaths each year from HCV related conditions in the United States and approximately 500,000 throughout the world (4,5).