Author information
1Kirby Institute, University of New South Wales (UNSW Sydney), Sydney, Australia.
2Prince of Wales Hospital, Sydney, Australia.
3Duke University Medical Center, Durham, North Carolina, USA.
4Duke Clinical Research Institute, Durham, North Carolina, USA.
5University Hospital Bonn, Bonn, Germany.
6St Vincent's Hospital, Sydney, Australia.
Abstract
Following the discovery of hepatitis C virus (HCV) in 1989, 3 decades of basic, translational, and clinical research culminated in the development of direct-acting antiviral (DAA) therapy-curative oral treatment for HCV infection. The availability of DAA therapy revolutionized HCV clinical management, including acute (duration of infection <6 mo) and recent (duration of infection <12 mo) infection. Several DAA regimens, including the contemporary pan-genotypic combinations of sofosbuvir-velpatasvir and glecaprevir-pibrentasvir, have been shown to be safe and effective among people with acute and recent HCV infection, highlighting their potential in an HCV controlled human infection model. This article describes the natural history and management of acute and recent HCV infection in the era of DAA therapy and outlines a strategy for use of DAA therapies in the setting of an HCV controlled human infection model.