Current treatment of choice for chronic hepatitis C infection

Abstract

Current treatment of choice for chronic hepatitis C infection Tareq Yasin, Thomas R Riley, Ian R SchreibmanPenn State Hershey Medical Center and College of Medicine, Pennsylvania, USAAbstract: More than three million Americans have chronic hepatitis C infection, and the disease remains one of the most common blood-borne infections in the US. Treatment is focused on the chronic form of the disease, because the acute one tends to be self-limiting. In this article, we review the recent literature regarding the most effective therapy against hepatitis C infection, to confirm the current treatment of choice for the disease. We conclude that combination therapy with pegylated interferon and ribavirin remains the initial treatment of choice. New research focusing on adjuvant therapies, such as protease and polymerase inhibitors, has yielded early data that appear to be promising.Keywords: hepatitis C virus, infection, chronic, treatment, pegylated interferon, ribavirin