Micro-Elimination of HCV—The David's Strategy against Goliath

Dear Colleagues,

Hepatitis C virus (HCV) infection is a major global disease burden, and the leading cause of liver cirrhosis and hepatocellular carcinoma in those infected. The introduction of direct-acting antivirals (DAAs) for the treatment of hepatitis C virus (HCV) infection in 2013 is one of the greatest advances of the current biomedical era. However, eradicate hepatitis C requires more than high antiviral efficacy. In 2017, the International Liver Foundation's European Association for the Study of the Liver suggested eliminating HCV would be less complex by setting micro-elimination goals. This Special Issue will focus to collect the best care practices in micro-elimination, the efforts that many research groups are making to reduce the prevalence, incidence and mortality of HCV in specific populations, using a micro-elimination strategy with novel model of care.

This issue will include papers that analyze the implementation of diagnostic methods that allow point-of-care diagnosis, one-step infection diagnosis and, of course, one-step comprehensive evaluation of HCV disease. The organization of healthcare systems that facilitate micro-elimination in different high-risk or vulnerable groups will be especially welcome, as well as the practice based on telemedicine, telepharmacy and home-delivery. Undoubtedly, the integration of the care cascade and the monitoring of treatment: from dispensing to adherence and treatment completion; they are key elements of micro-elimination that should be collected in this monograph. The concept of treatment as prevention is to successfully treat an HCV-infected person who is at a risk of transmitting the virus on to others and eliminate the possibility of further transmission, thereby achieving “prevention.” Demonstration of the effectiveness of this approach is also welcome.

In conclusion, we want to develop a special issue able to teach us the efforts to eliminate HCV through micro-elimination tools. The publication of the results of the different elimination strategies in different parts of the world will allow the combination of different healthcare processes and contribute to the elimination of HCV in 2030. The victory of the small against the big, of the helpless against the powerful; micro-elimination reminds us of David's strategy against Goliath. There will always be chances of being successful.

Prof. Dr. Jose Luis Calleja
Prof. Dr. Javier Crespo
Dr. Joaquín Cabezas
Guest Editors

Manuscript Submission Information

Manuscripts should be submitted online at www.mdpi.com by registering and logging in to this website. Once you are registered, click here to go to the submission form. Manuscripts can be submitted until the deadline. All submissions that pass pre-check are peer-reviewed. Accepted papers will be published continuously in the journal (as soon as accepted) and will be listed together on the special issue website. Research articles, review articles as well as short communications are invited. For planned papers, a title and short abstract (about 250 words) can be sent to the Editorial Office for assessment.

Submitted manuscripts should not have been published previously, nor be under consideration for publication elsewhere (except conference proceedings papers). All manuscripts are thoroughly refereed through a single-blind peer-review process. A guide for authors and other relevant information for submission of manuscripts is available on the Instructions for Authors page. Journal of Clinical Medicine is an international peer-reviewed open access semimonthly journal published by MDPI.

Please visit the Instructions for Authors page before submitting a manuscript. The Article Processing Charge (APC) for publication in this open access journal is 2600 CHF (Swiss Francs). Submitted papers should be well formatted and use good English. Authors may use MDPI's English editing service prior to publication or during author revisions.