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TEXAS
CHILDREN'S LIVER CENTER
The Viral Hepatitis Clinic at Texas
Children’s Hospital provides comprehensive screening, education, and
treatment for children and their families affected by viral
hepatitis B
and C.
Hepatitis B alone is a major global health problem with 400 million
carriers worldwide. Over 2 million are chronically infected in the
U.S, half of which are Asian-American. One third of chronic HBV
infections in the U.S. start in early childhood. ¼ of them will go
on to develop cirrhosis without treatment. The clinic’s mission is
to prevent the progression of this chronic and devastating disease
in its earliest stages and provide hope to children and families
affected. Early diagnosis and timely treatment of hepatitis B and C
can prevent the development of cancer, cirrhosis, or the need for
liver transplantation for these children.
While the current focus is clinical care for this subgroup of
patients, the clinic plans to address specific questions which will
impact care and provide treatment guidelines which currently do not
exist. Optimal drug choice, the potential use of combination
therapy, primary endpoints, and the impact of genotype on prognosis
and treatment are research areas of interest..
The clinic provides language services representing over 30
countries, and clinicians and staff focus on patient education,
prevention, monitoring and treatment.
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