We are researchers who have published analyses of nucleic acid sequence variation of hepatitis C virus (HCV) and associated virological and clinical significance. We are concerned that our investigations are hampered by the lack of a consensus nomenclature for variants of HCV and that this leads to confusion when results from different laboratories are compared. Furthermore, because there are no consistently applied criteria by which new genotypes are defined, investigators assign new type descriptions to novel sequence variants on an ad hoc basis without agreement from

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The rate of long term response to interferon of anti-HBe-positive chronic hepatitis B is poor, independent of IFN type, dose, or schedule; the more stringent the monitoring, the higher the relapse rate.

To assess whether therapy with Ribavirin may affect the course of chronic delta hepatitis, nine Italian patients with this disease received the drug orally at a dosage of 15 mgikg daily for 16 weeks. At the end of the therapy period, all patients were followed for 12 additional months. Seven patients completed the trial. Two patients were withdrawn: one developed hemolytic anemia, and the other intractable itching. At the end of treatment HD viremia was reduced in one patient, had cleared in another, and was unchanged in the remaining five patients. None of the patients decreased their alanine transferase (ALT) levels by more than 50%. At the doses given in this study. Ribarivin did not show significant antiviral effects in chronic hepatitis D, and was not effective in reducing the biochemical markers of liver inflammation and necrosis.