That’s great news Hazel, hopefully the #hepcbutterfly symbol will soon spread its wings all over the world and really help raise awareness. Even though it’s disappointing that the Pulitzer committee didn’t name a winner for the cartooning category this year, Marty’s work will surely garner more attention going forward, and he should be very proud. You should be too, your presentation and overall effort (along with Dr James) to rid the world of Hep C are just awesome.

Hi Sven, I think Dr Freeman is suggesting that you can not rule out that the lady had both GT1a and GT2b and that her Genotype test showed GT1a only because it was the dominant strain. If that was the case, it’s very possible that Harvoni cured both strains in her, but before her treatment, she may have transmitted both strains (or GT2b only) to the man and GT2b became dominant in him. I’m sure Dr Freeman will correct me if I’m wrong.

Hi Valentino, welcome to the forum! First, sorry about all what you went through. Your story is very familiar, most Hepatitis C sufferers go through the same down spiral. Hepatitis C is a terrible virus that is capable of turning people’s lives upside down. The good news is that it’s now curable as you know, the new DAA medications eliminate the virus with 95% success rate on the first try. As a matter of fact, almost all people say after just 1 week of treatment that they haven’t felt this good in years.

Hepatitis C symptoms (such as fatigue, mental fog and skin rash) definitely go away after successful treatment. The only symptom that I’m not sure if it’s related to Hepatitis C or not is hair loss. Dr Freeman who is a Hepatitis C expert and who founded FixHepC answers all questions posed here, I’m sure he will let you know.

Hopefully you will start treatment and get your life back very soon, best of luck to you and keep us updated.

Congratulations on the start of testing in Niue Hazel Best of luck to you, Dr Freeman, and Global Health NZ in accomplishing the ultimate goal of this very unique project.

Great words of wisdom Dr James, a roadmap to a happy life.

Congratulations joy2world!! As you and Coral said, this news gives a lot of hope to the people who fail their first 12 weeks of treatment, enjoy your Hep C free life

Hello Absadiq10, please answer Dr James’s question, have you been tested for Hepatitis B? If not, you should, as this may be the cause of your health issues.

Hi Lilyfield, sorry to hear that. I’m not a doctor but have read that Dr James recommends ‘Indomethacin’ to people who are suspected of having Covid-19 (at least until you see your doctor). It’s an NSAID (similar to Aspirin) with 3 very important benefits if given early on. The first and most important is that it’s a blood thinner (will reduce the chances of Covid-19 most serious complication, blood clots). It should not be taken however if you’re already taking another blood thinner. Second, it’s an anti-inflammatory (will reduce the immune system over reaction). Third, it’s a fever reducer. There is evidence that it also inhibits virus replication.

Indomethacin is very cheap and in many countries it’s an OTC drug (requires a prescription in the US though). More potent medications will be given of course if the disease is not mild, but early on, or until you see a doctor, it seems like an excellent medication to take especially that it has the same side effects profile as Aspirin.