ISSN: 2574-8009
Authors: Laway MA, Shiekh SA, Sideeq S, Wani ZA* and Shafi PM
Introduction: Hepatitis C virus (HCV) infection represents a major healthcare challenge in both industrialized and developing countries. The standard treatment for hepatitis C virus (HCV) infection has been interferon-based over many years with less than satisfactory cure rate and many side-effects. Directly acting antivirals (DAAs) have promise for a treatment regimen free of interferons with much better cure rate and minimal side-effects. Aims and Objectives: To evaluate efficacy and safety of an oral interferon-free regimen, sofosbuvir plus ribavirin in the treatment in genotype 3 chronic hepatitis C patients. Materials and Methods: 200 treatment naïve chronic hepatitis C genotype 3 patients of either sex with age more than 18 years were enrolled in the study. Sofosbuvir 400 mg once daily plus Ribavarin weight-based was given to all the patients. Duration of treatment was 24 weeks and 12 weeks to cirrhotics and non-cirrhotics respectively. Data analysis was performed using the IBM SPSS version 22. Results: In this prospective study the total number of patients was two hundred (n=200). The mean age (in years) of patients was 44.2 ± 14.7. The number of male patients was 112 (56%) and 88 (44%) were females. The number of cirrhotic patients was 70 while 130 were non-cirrhotic. On comparison on the basis of sustained virological response at twelve weeks of the completion of treatment (SVR12) we observed that treatment naïve cirrhotic patients had SVR 12 of 92.8 % while in the non-cirrhotic patients SVR 12= was 96.9 % . Adverse effects were insignificant and none of the patients dropped out because of side effects. Conclusion: The sofosbuvir and ribavirin based therapy showed very good rates of sustained virological response in chronic hepatitis C genotype 3 patients irrespective of the state of fibrosis. In addition it was found to be cost effective, safe and very well-tolerated.
Keywords: Hepatitis C; Genotype 3; Directly Acting Antivirals; Sofosbuvir; Sustained Virologic Response (SVR)
