Does Interferon and Ribavirin Combination Therapy Increase the Rate of Treatment Response in Children With Hepatitis C?

Abstract

ABSTRACTBackgroundInterferon‐α was the first accepted treatment of chronic hepatitis C. In recent years, adding ribavirin has produced better response rates in adult patients than monotherapy with interferon‐α. Whether adding ribavirin also improves treatment results in pediatric patients remains unclear.MethodsTwelve patients were given 3 million U/m2 subcutaneous interferon‐α three times weekly and 15 mg/kg oral ribavirin daily, and 10 patients were given only 3 million U/m2 subcutaneous interferon‐α three times weekly for a total of 12 months.ResultsThe dropout rate was 22.8% (25% for patients receiving combination treatment versus 20% for those receiving monotherapy). At the end of treatment, viral clearance was achieved in 50% of the patients who received combination treatment versus 30% of those who received monotherapy. After 12 months of posttreatment follow‐up, sustained response rates were 30% and 41.7%, respectively. Of those who responded to treatment, 66.7% had received ribavirin whereas 37.5% of nonresponders had received ribavirin therapy.ConclusionAdding ribavirin to interferon treatment improved end‐of‐treatment response rates in children with chronic hepatitis C. Tolerance of treatment was similar to tolerance of monotherapy. However, studies of greater numbers of pediatric patients with longer follow‐up periods are necessary to determine prolonged sustained response.