Combined quantitation and genotyping of hepatitis C virus RNA using NASBA (R)

Hepatitis C virus (HCV) is known for its propensity to cause chronic hepati tis. HCV persists in 65-70% of patients after primary infection, and a numb er of these chronically infected individuals develop cirrhosis and hepatoce llular carcinoma. This background stresses the need for effective antiviral treatment for patients with chronic HCV infection. At present, interferon alpha (IFN-a) is the only established treatment for chronic HCV infection. However, sustained beneficial results are obtained in only a minority of th e patients. About half of the patients initially show disappearance of the HCV RNA, but only 15-20% have a sustained virological response, in that HCV RNA is still not detectable 6 months or longer after stop of therapy [1,2] .