Hepatitis C Treatment
For treating hepatitis C there are 3 drugs approved: interferon alfa, pegylated interferon (recently introduced) and ribavirin. The evolution of the disease depends on the therapeutic regimen chosen. The most effective one seems to be the combination between pegylated interferon with ribavirin (it can eliminate the virus in 50% of the pacients). The usual duration of the treatment is 48 weeks (that varies with the HCV genotype).
The monotherapy with interferon is used when patients have contraindication for using ribavirin. The studies proved that the rate of curing is very high if the treatment begins while the infection is still in the acute phase. They also showed that the efficiency of the treatment depend on the genotype of HCV virus.
The therapy has many side effects. The most common are flu-like symptoms, fatigue, headache, nausea and vomiting, loss of appetite, depression, and hair thinning, (those will appear in over 35% cases), symptoms of irritability, sleep disturbance, visual disturbances, as well as evidence of hyper- or hypothyroidism. It also decreases the production of white blood cells and platelets by depressing the bone marrow. In the first two weeks from the beginning of the treatment, the side effects are maximal, but there are some improvements after that.
Not every person infected with the hepatitis B virus is eligible for those kinds of treatments. Only patients who have had hepatitis C for over 3 months, with values of ALT over the normal limit and with positive HCV RNA can receive these treatments.