Mohammad Humayun, Jamalud Din.
Efficacy of short term Interferon plus Ribavirin therapy (combination therapy) in acute Hepatitis C.
J Med Sci Jan ;14(1):19-20.

Background: Hepatitis C is a major cause of morbidity and mortality world wide. Financially it is a metal burden for finance managers of health institutions and patients. To observe sustained virological response and cost effectiveness of short term interferon plus ribavirine therapy (combination therapy) in acute hepatitis C, a study was carried out from March 2003 to June 2004 at a private hospital set up. Research Methodology: Sixteen patients were included in the study. All the patients were observed for eight weeks with four weekly serum ALT and HCV RNA. None of the patients cleared the virus spontaneously. Out of sixteen patients eight were selected randomly for treatment. Patients received treatment for four weeks. PCR for HCV RNA was done at the end of four weeks therapy. Patients were followed for one year to observe sustained virological response. Results: In the treatment group, all the eight patients (100%) showed clearance of HCV RNA at the end of four weeks with 87.5% sustained virological response with one patient relapsing at one year. Conclusion: We concluded from our study that acute hepatitis C once diagnosed can be treated with short term combination therapy as it is cheap and effective.

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