Syed Irfan Ahmed, Muhammad Rizwan Mahmud, Naveed Younas Khan, Muhammad Naseemullah, Muhammad Hanif.
Pegylated interferon and ribavirin in HCV genotype 3 detectable patients after 12 weeks of conventional interferon - ribavirin treatment.
Pak J Gastroenterol Jan ;20(1):58-62.

Interferon-based therapy with ribavirin is routinely used in patients with Chronic Hepatitis C including those with genotype 3. A majority of patients with this genotype respond to this treatment regimen. However a significant number may fail to clear the virus. We studied 21 patients of Chronic Hepatitis C with genotype 3 in whom HCV RNA was detectable following 12 weeks of treatment with interferon alpha-2b and ribavirin. The patients were randomly assigned to two groups in a ratio of 2:1. Group A comprised of 14 patients who continued with the same medication for an additional 12 weeks. Group B patients numbering seven, were switched to pegylated interferon in a dose of 1 mcg per kilogram body weight given subcutaneously weekly along with ribavirin. On completion of the study period, nine (64%) patients in Group A remained positive for HCV RNA while in five (36%) the virus was no longer detected. Four out of seven (57%) patients in Group B cleared the virus while three (43%) failed to do so. Biochemical response matched the virological response in most cases. It is concluded that pegylated interferon is superior to conventional interferon in patients with genotype 3 who fail to clear the virus following 12 weeks of treatment with interferon alpha-2b plus ribavirin.

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