New Treatment for Chronic Hepatitis C Patients

On June 3, 1998, the Food and Drug Administration (in the United States) approved a new drug treatment for patients with chronic hepatitis due to the hepatitis C virus. Hepatitis C infection is a common worldwide problem. About 0.2 to 2.2 percent of the general population have been infected. Two to four million people in the United States have chronic hepatitis C infection with 150,000 new cases of hepatitis C virus infection per year. Chronic hepatitis C can lead to liver cirrhosis, liver cancer and liver failure. This disease is currently the second most common reason for liver transplantation in the United States (liver damage due to alcohol abuse is the most common).

Once a person is infected by the hepatitis C virus, they have a 50- to 70-percent of developing chronic hepatitis. People with chronic hepatitis never completely eliminate the virus from their bodies. They may go for years without any symptoms. Intravenous drug abusers (mainlining), people who receive blood or blood products before July 1992 (in the United States), and hemodialysis patients are at highest risk of being infected by the hepatitis C virus.

People with chronic hepatitis C infection can suddenly get worse and present to their physician with symptoms of hepatitis (very tired, clay-colored stools, yellowing of the whites of the eyes and skin). When this happens more liver damage is occuring. If possible, patients can be treated with interferon alpha. Interferon helps the patients body to kill off most of the virus infected cells in the liver. Unfortunately it CANNOT cure a patient. Only about 50 percent of the patients get better with this treatment.

To improve on this interferon alpha (Intron A) treatment a drug called ribavirin (Rebetol) is given along with the interferon. The combination therapy does NOT cure chronic hepatitis C. It is also not known if this new treatment combination will slow the damage of a patient's liver. However, this combination of drugs is better at lowering the amount of hepatitis C virus in a patient's blood stream than when interferon alpha is used alone. Clinical trials also have shown that six months after treatment 45 percent of patients treated with the combination therapy still had very low levels of virus in their blood. Only five percent of people treated with interferon alpha alone maintained low levels of virus in their blood. The combination therapy also lowered liver inflammation of a higher percentage of patients (50 percent) than did interferon alone therapy (34 percent).

Unfortunately, serious side effects can occur in patients treated with this combination therapy. Remember, this is NOT A CURE. It MAY, however, give patient's with chronic hepatitis C infection longer lives.

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