Hepatitis C

It provides sustained viral responses (SVRs) of 54% to 63%. When used as monotherapy, peginterferons once weekly are more effective than standard interferon 3 times a week, producing SVRs of 30% to 40%. The combination of peginterferon plus ribavirin is more effective than combi- nations of standard interferons and ribavirin in patients co-infected with HIV and hepatitis C virus (HCV) . In a retrospective study, use of interferon appeared to decrease the risk of hepatocellular carcinoma in patients withchronic HCV infection, especially among patients with sustained responses.