Patients who have completed direct acting anti-viral (DAA) treatment have described the huge psychological benefit of being cured of hepatitis C.

More than 40,000 patients have now been treated with DAAs, since they were listed on the PBS in 2016.

In a qualitative study, researchers from La Trobe University, Victoria, asked 20 patients who had recently completed treatment to reflect on their experience with the disease and its treatment, and the meaning of being cured.

Their answers revealed that while physical benefits were mentioned, the major life-changing impact of DAA therapy was on psychological wellbeing. Patients described the relief of no longer living with a disease that would lead to serious liver disease and potentially kill them.

The patients, from both specialist and community treatment settings, described achieving sustained virological load (SVR) as feeling “like a real weight has been lifted from you”.

“You go from being someone with a chronic disease that has the potential to cut your life short to being free,” commented one female patient.

For many, being cured meant feeling “normal” instead of feeling “dirty” or “infectious”, with patients describing the relief of no longer living with the fear of accidentally transmitting the disease to others.

One man described being able to relax his vigilance around ensuring no-one in his house used his razors and toothbrushes.

“It’s really nice to know that … there aren’t those risks of passing it on to anyone else”.

Some patients also felt that DAA cure had changed their self perception, allowing them to make a break with their past and move on in life.

“It does make me feel more normal in a community sense … that I don’t have appointments or doctors are going to find out or my daughter’s friends are going to find out. That’s very liberating,” commented one male patient.

Most people had not experienced physical symptoms associated with the virus before treatment, but some said they felt in better health after being cured.

All participants said they would recommend others with the virus seek advice from their doctor about taking DAAs, becoming “passionate advocates for sharing the benefits of being cured with people in their network and complete strangers”, the study authors write.

The experiences reported by patients after DAA therapy should be harnessed to promote uptake of treatment to the 200,000 people still living with chronic hepatitis C in Australia, write Jacqueline Richmond, from the Australian Research Centre in Sex, Health and Society at La Trobe University, and co-authors in Hepatology, Medicine and Policy.

They point to the “Diffusion of Innovations” theory which suggests that when an innovation is promoted by respected individuals within a social network, it creates a desire to adopt it.

“Future promotion of the next wave of DAA candidates should draw on the firsthand experiences of people who have just been through DAA treatment and have achieved cure, including people who currently inject drugs.”