Baraclude
Baraclude tablets contain entecavir 0.5mg, an antiviral taken once a day for chronic hepatitis B in adults and children, sold here as film-coated tablets.
All strengths and pack prices
| Strength | Pack | Price | Per tablet |
|---|---|---|---|
| 0.5mg | 30 tablets | $114.60 | $3.82 |
| 0.5mg | 60 tablets | $183.60 | $3.06 |
| 0.5mg | 90 tablets | $245.70 | $2.73 |
- Category
- Antivirals
- Active ingredient
- Entecavir
- Route
- Oral
- Form
- Tablet
- Strengths
- 0.5mg
You will receive a quality generic equivalent, depending on stock.
Shipped in a discreet, unmarked envelope.
Details
- Conditions
- Chronic Hepatitis B
- Therapeutic Class
- Antiviral
- Pharmacological Class
- Nucleoside Analog
- Minor Side Effects
- Fatigue, dizziness, headache
- Moderate Side Effects
- Nausea, diarrhoea
- Dosage Forms
- Tablet
- Administration Route
- Oral
- Originator
- Bristol-Myers Squibb
- Duration
- 24 hours
- Storage Instructions
- Store in a cool, dry place.
- Drug Interactions
- Medications affecting kidney function
What you will receive
Baraclude is the originator brand name, made by Bristol-Myers Squibb. We use it to identify the medicine; the pack you receive is a generic equivalent, not the original Baraclude.
- The same active ingredient (Entecavir) at the same strength.
- The exact brand supplied depends on what is in stock when your order ships.
FAQ
What Baraclude strengths and pack sizes can I order?
Baraclude contains entecavir. It is generic entecavir, not the original Baraclude. The 0.5mg tablets come in packs of 30, 60 or 90. Larger packs cost less per tablet.
How does Baraclude delivery work for Hong Kong?
Generic entecavir orders can go by tracked courier in 5 to 9 business days with online tracking. If a parcel does not arrive within its delivery window, it is sent again free, or the order is refunded if that is not possible.
What other names is entecavir sold under?
Baraclude is a brand name of entecavir, which is also sold as Entavir. Here, entecavir can be bought online as generic Baraclude. These are generics, not the original brand.
How long does entecavir take to work?
Entecavir has no day on which it suddenly starts working. The amount of virus in the blood drops gradually and is followed with blood tests rather than by how you feel. It holds hepatitis B down without removing it, so treatment is measured in years, not weeks.
Can I drink alcohol with entecavir?
Alcohol is processed by the liver, and a liver with chronic hepatitis B is already working under strain. Regular heavy drinking adds to that strain and can make liver test results harder to read while treatment is being monitored.
What should I do if I miss a dose?
Take the forgotten tablet as soon as you remember, provided several hours remain before the next one is due. If the next dose is close, wait for it and carry on as normal. Never take two tablets at once to make up for the one you missed.
Does entecavir cure hepatitis B?
It controls the infection rather than clearing it. While the tablets are taken, the amount of virus in the blood usually drops to very low or undetectable levels, but the virus is not removed from the body, and it can become active again if treatment stops. That is why courses run for years.
Is entecavir available as a liquid?
Yes. Entecavir also comes as an oral solution for people who find tablets difficult, measured with the spoon supplied and swallowed straight from it — it is not mixed with water or juice. This shop stocks the 0.5mg film-coated tablets rather than the liquid.
About Baraclude
What Baraclude tablets treat
Hepatitis B is a viral infection that keeps the liver inflamed for months or years. Entecavir, the ingredient in Baraclude, is an antiviral that lowers the amount of hepatitis B virus circulating in the blood. It is used in adults whose liver already shows the effects of the infection — active viral replication, raised ALT (a liver enzyme released when liver cells are irritated), inflammation or fibrosis (scarring) — and in adults with decompensated liver disease, where the liver is no longer keeping up with its usual work. Children from two years old can be treated with it as well.
The tablets stocked here are 0.5mg film-coated, the strength given to adults starting treatment for compensated liver disease.
How entecavir works
The virus copies itself by assembling new strands of its genetic material, using building blocks it makes inside liver cells. Entecavir is similar enough to one of those blocks to be picked up instead, and the copying stalls. Fewer new virus particles appear, so the level of virus in the blood falls. The aim is long-term suppression rather than a cure; hepatitis B can still pass to other people.
Taking the tablets day to day
The dose is a single tablet daily, swallowed whole. A meal reduces how much entecavir the body takes in, so the tablet goes on an empty stomach: two hours after eating, and two hours before the next meal. Any time of day will do if you keep to it.
Most people stay on treatment for years. Hepatitis B can flare once the tablets are stopped, usually within the first few months, so stopping is not a decision to make on a good test result. The strips stay in their original pack, somewhere dry and out of the heat.
Side effects and warning signs
Headache, tiredness, dizziness and stomach upset are the ones people notice most, and plenty of people notice nothing at all. Rarer but more serious are lactic acidosis (a build-up of acid in the blood) and damage to the liver itself. Yellowing of the skin or eyes, dark urine, pale stools, unusual muscle pain, or fast and difficult breathing need urgent treatment.
Entecavir has no effect on HIV, and in someone whose HIV is not being treated it can make that infection harder to manage later.
Sources
- Entecavir: MedlinePlus Drug Information — National Library of Medicine
- Entecavir 0.5 mg film-coated tablets - Summary of Product Characteristics (SmPC) - (emc) — UK Electronic Medicines Compendium (EMC)