Efficacy of interferons in treating children with chronic hepatitis C

Abstract

The genotype of HCV (III) and a reduction in the core antibody titre appear to be useful parameters for predicting the response to IFN-alpha therapy.

Prevalence of hepatitis C virus infection in children admitted to an urban hospital

“…Recent publications have suggested that children infected after vertical infection have a higher spontaneous clearance than adults. [8][9][10] These results are similar to the horizontal infection of young children after HCV positive blood transfusion. The spontaneous clearance rate in these patients was between 28 and 55%.…”

Recombinant alfa-interferon plus ribavirin therapy in children and adolescents with chronic hepatitis C

“…T reatment with alfa-interferon yielded very inconstant results ranging between 5% and 45% sustained response in children with chronic hepatitis C. [1][2][3][4] As in adults, genotype 1, which represents the most frequent genotype in Europe, has a low response rate by an average of 27% as reported by Jacobson et al, 5 who analyzed all relevant published trials in children. This led to the recommendation by some pediatric hepatologists not to treat chronically infected children without progressive disease.…”

Virus genotype 1b and long-term response to interferon alpha monotherapy in children with chronic hepatitis C

“…Besides, relatively mild liver damage, as evidenced by the histology of the biopsy specimens, may result in a fairly good response to IFN-a treatment in spite of the HCV 1b genotype. The competent immune system of paediatric patients may also contribute to the final result [21]. A sustained ALT response was seen in 50% of cases in our group of patients , while in adults the corresponding percentage is 8-9% [23].…”