Efficacy of ribavirin plus interferon alpha on viraemia of GB virus-C hepatitis G virus: Comparison with interferon alpha alone

We investigated the efficacy of ribavirin plus interferon (IFN) alpha on GB virus-C (GBV-C)/hepatitis G virus (HGV) viraemia and compared it with that of interferon cr alone in patients coinfected with hepatitis C virus (HCV) and GBV-C/HGV. Serum HCV and GBV-C/HGV-RNA were studied in eight patients with HCV and GBV-C/HGV coinfection, five received IFN alpha and three recei ved oral ribavirin plus IFN alpha. Mean serum GBV-C/HGV titre at the end of therapy was significantly lower than the titre just before therapy and pat ients with lower pretreatment titre had a better sustained response rate. S ustained virological response of GBV-C/HGV to IFN alpha alone and ribavirin plus IFN alpha at the end of follow up was observed in one each, respectiv ely. Thus, GBV-C/HGV in patients with HCV and GBV-C/HGV coinfection does re spond to IFN alpha and ribavirin plus IFN alpha may not induce a higher sus tained response.