Authors' reply to Selvapatt and colleagues, Matthews and colleagues, Badrinath, and Ward and Lee

Selvapatt and colleagues made several points: large numbers of people are infected; birth cohort screening is cost effective; previously treated patients without severe fibrosis are unlikely to progress; sustained virological response improves quality of life; treatment reduces mortality; and newer agents have fewer side effects (last two also alluded to by Matthews and colleagues).1 2 3 The number of patients is not the issue, which is whether …