Severe muscle weakness during treatment with pegylated interferon alfa for chronic hepatitis C virus infection A rare complication

Background: Interferons (IFNs) are common therapeutics for several diseases such as viral hepatitis, multiple sclerosis and malignancy. A variety of autoimmune related side effects have been observed during IFN therapy. Rare cases of myopathy, polymyositis or dermatomyositis have been reported during therapy with high doses of IFN^5. Case Presentation: In this report, we describe a case with severe muscle weakness but near normal muscles' enzymes during treatment of chronic hepatic C infection with pegylated IFN ^5 2a in a patient with major beta thalassemiaConclusion: This report suggests that severe weakness with normal muscles^5 enzymes may occur during IFN therapy.