Peginterferon and ribavirin in a patient with acute hepatitis C

Rodríguez-Gómez, Santiago; Serna-Higuera, Carlos de la; Perez-Villoria, Antonio; Martínez-Moreno, J.; Betancourt-González, Alejandro; MARTINARRIBAS, M

doi:10.1111/j.1572-0241.2003.07656.x

Cited by 2 publications

(1 citation statement)

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“…Actually, the efficacy of antiviral treatment for chronic HCV has improved with the use of IFN conjugated with polyethylene glycol (peg-IFN) which increases the serum half-life of the drug, thus permitting a once-weekly administration and a prolonged suppression of viral activity when compared to standard IFN [7][8][9][10]. Efficacy and safety assessment of peg-IFN alone or in combination with ribavirin in acute hepatitis C is required, however; recently, only two reports have been published regarding acute hepatitis C treated with peg-IFN alfa-2b using diverse treatment durations and different schedules [11,12] demonstrating excellent responses both at the end of treatment and during follow-up. Our experience also confirms the efficacy and safety of peg-IFN alfa-2b as an initial treatment of acute hepatitis C.…”

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confidence: 98%

Peginterferon alfa-2b Treatment for Patients Affected by Acute Hepatitis C: Presentation of Six Case Reports

et al. 2005

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Acute hepatitis C often progresses to chronic infection (70%). In this clinical study, we evaluated if early treatment with peginterferon alfa-2b can prevent acute hepatitis C from developing into a chronic disease. Six patients with acute hepatitis C, based on a well-documented hepatitis C virus (HCV) seroconversion with high alanine aminotransferase (ALT) levels (> 10 x ULN) and persistent HCV RNA titers after 3 months from disease onset, were consecutively treated with peginterferon alfa-2b at 1.5 microg/kg/weekly/sc for 24 weeks. The viral load was quantified by PCR assay. Response was defined as undetectable HCV RNA and normal ALT levels at the end of therapy and after a 6-month follow-up. All patients completed therapy; at the end of therapy, 5/6 patients (83%) responded and no relapses were observed during follow-up. No correlation was found between treatment response and pretreatment viral load, viral genotype, and interval between acute infection diagnosis and start of therapy.

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