Hepatitis C care

PULSE Clinic's hepatitis C care teams include general practitioner and doctor trained in liver disease (hepatologists). Rounding out the team are advanced-practice nurses, physician assistants and other allied health professionals. We communicate directly with one another to coordinate your appointments, streamline the diagnostic process and design a plan of care that meets your unique needs. Your care team also monitors your condition as treatment progresses, making adjustments as needed.

Hepatitis C Cure

New hepatitis C treatment is pills only, with fewer side effects, shorter treatment times, and high cure rates.

Treatment for Hepatitis C

There have been new advances in treatment for hepatitis C, including highly effective medications that show the majority of people can be cured. Treatment is also easier than in the past because it usually involves pills only (no injections), there are fewer side effects, and treatment typically takes only 8-12 weeks.

Hepatitis C Treatment: Things to Consider

• There is a good chance treatment can cure hepatitis C, meaning after treatment, the virus is no longer present in your body. If you're cured, you can no longer pass the virus onto others, but it's important to take steps to prevent getting re-infected.

• Treatment works best when you take all of the pills on schedule. If you skip or miss some pills, treatment may not cure you. Think about how you can adhere to your medications before starting treatment.

• If you are HIV-positive, getting treated for hepatitis C can improve your overall health, make your HIV medications more effective, and increase HIV treatment options.

• Some people may be initially denied access to treatment based on drug or alcohol use or degree of liver damage. If you are denied access to treatment by your insurance company, you have the right to an appeal!

How much will I have to pay for treatment?

Even though HCV guidelines now only recommend oral DAA treatment, the high price of these medicines means that in many countries they are only available to people who have advanced liver damage. Luckily hepatitis C treatment is affordable at Pulse Clinic.

Doctor consultation fee, Complete blood test including HCV viral load, HCV genotyping, Complete Liver Function, Kidney function costs 14,000THB.

Medications cost around 28,000THB per month (which can be paid off by credit card), you may have to take the medication up to 3 months, and in few cases up to 6 months.

After that we will provide you with continuous medical follow up every 6 months to see if the Hep C is completely gone.

Treatment side-effects

The new medicines now being used to treat hep C have a lot fewer side-effects and are better tolerated. Side-effects may include fatigue, headache, insomnia and nausea, but they are uncommon and typically mild in severity. It is important to understand what the possible side-effects are for any medicines you will be taking and tell your doctor if you are experiencing these symptoms. Health professionals can help reduce your side-effects and also help you to manage them.

What is meant by the term ‘cure’?

A ‘cure’ is indicated by a sustained viral response at week 12 after treatment(i). Your doctor will order a PCR viral load test 12 weeks after treatment finishes, and if the results show ‘virus undetectable’ (no virus) it means that you have successfully cleared the virus and there is no hep C in your body. Some doctors will order a further PCR viral load test 24 weeks after treatment.

After treatment

Once you have been cured of hep C, your body will continue to make antibodies for ten years or more. Antibodies are produced as a part of your body’s natural defence system to infections. Having hep C antibodies does not mean you still have hep C. If your PCR test is still negative 3 months after completing treatment, the virus is no longer in your body. It is important to remember that while the antibodies remain in your blood, this does not protect you against getting hep C again. You should avoid blood-to- blood contact with others (including sharing injecting equipment) so you do not catch hep C again. Most people will start to feel better during treatment for hep C. 

Steps for HCV treatment at PULSE Clinics (Thailand)

1. You need to get tested for

• HCV viral load test (5600THB, result sent to your email in 10 working days)
• HCV genotyping test, (6800THB, result sent to your email in 10 working days)
• Baseline complete liver function test (1000THB, result in 1 day) to check how your liver is doing before treatment
• Baseline kidney function test (500THB, result in 1 day) to check how your kidneys are doing before treatment.

If you have these lab investigations done already in your country send it to info.bkk@pulse-clinic.com or bring it with you on the day of doctor visit.

2. Our doctor can prescribe medication according to the international guidelines and Thai National Guidelines for HCV treatment which will be 3-6 months depends on the genotype, sometimes we also have medications that covers all genotype but that has to be ordered in advance.
3. Follow up for HCV viral load and liver function test every 6 months during the first year and then once a year to make sure there is no re-infection.