EFFICACY AND SENSITIVITY OF THE PEG INTERFERON ALPHA-3 MILLION UNITS AGAINST HCV-RNA GENOTYPE 3A GIVEN TO THE CONFIRMED OF NEW AND RELAPSED HUMAN PATIENTS.

Abstract

Introduction: PEG-Interferon and ribavirin had been the mainstay for the treatment of infections caused by HCV. The use of them in the era of Direct Acting Agents might have been lessened but their efficacy in achieving a sustained virological response in clinical practice cannot be doubted. Objective: The goal of the present investigation is to evaluate the effectiveness and sensitivity of PEG-interferon alpha with ribavirin in naïve and relapsed cases of HCV infection with genotype 3a. Methods: A total of 50 HCV cases had been evaluated of which 64% (n=32) were treatment naïve cases while the remaining 36% (n=18) were relapsed cases. Both the cases were treated with 3 million units of PEG-Interferon alpha thrice per week administered subcutaneously/intramuscularly along with ribavirin 400 mg in the morning and 60 mg in the evening for a period of 6 months. Results: Efficacy and sensitivity of the treatment was analyzed by the decrease in viral load and virological response of the drug at different intervals i.e. week 4, 12 and 24 respectively. The mean viral load of all the enrolled cases significantly lowered at the end of therapy i.e. 708796.64 IU/ml to 69481.02 IU/ml. However, there was a significant difference (p<0.05) in the mean HCV RNA load at the end of therapy in both the cases. Conclusion: Due to unavailability and inappropriateness of the use of current therapies in the management of HCV infection, treatment regimens comprising PEG-interferon alpha could serve as a possible alternative with efficacy and sensitivity at the same time.