BACKGROUND Peginterferon alpha-2b plus ribavirin therapy in previously untreated patients with chronic hepatitis C yields the highest sustained virological response rates of any treatment strategy but is expensive. AIMS To estimate the cost effectiveness of treatment with peginterferon alpha-2b plus ribavirin compared with interferon alpha-2b plus ribavirin for initial treatment of patients w...

BACKGROUND/AIM In this observational study, the effects of oral ribavirin on clinical and laboratory parameters and blood products use in patients with Crimean-Congo hemorrhagic fever (CCHF) were evaluated. MATERIALS AND METHODS CCHF patients (n = 100) who were hospitalized between 2007 and 2010 were included. Oral ribavirin was administered to 56 patients with symptom duration less than 5 da...

BACKGROUND HCV is a major cause of morbidity and mortality in HIV-coinfected patients. Several observational studies have suggested that HCV response to pegylated interferon and ribavirin is lower in HIV-coinfected patients treated with abacavir. It has been postulated that abacavir could compete with ribavirin to be phosphorylated, leading to a reduction in the active form of the drug (triphos...

BACKGROUND AND AIM Current practice guidelines recommend that individuals chronically infected with the hepatitis C virus (HCV) be treated with pegylated interferon plus ribavirin. Ribavirin, however, is associated with serious adverse events (AE), especially anemia. We review its mechanism of action, its importance in treating chronic hepatitis C (CHC) patients, the AE associated with its use,...

We describe a patient with HbE-beta thalassaemia and chronic hepatitis C virus infection (genotype 1a) who was treated successfully with peginterferon alfa-2b and ribavirin, following failure to respond to standard interferon and ribavirin therapy. She had sustained virological response for nearly 24 months after completing peginterferon alfa-2b and ribavirin therapy. Transfusion requirements w...

BACKGROUND On-treatment predictors during antiviral therapy of HCV are useful because they allow discontinuation of an unnecessary treatment in non-responders. Our aim was to evaluate the usefulness of plasma and erythrocyte ribavirin levels in predicting sustained virological response (SVR) in HCV genotype 1 patients undergoing antiviral treatment. METHODS A total of 40 HCV genotype 1 patien...

BACKGROUND/AIMS Severe fever with thrombocytopenia syndrome (SFTS) is an emerging infectious disease caused by severe fever with thrombocytopenia syndrome virus (SFTSV), a novel bunyavirus. As yet, there is no effective antiviral therapy for SFTS. Ribavirin is a broad-spectrum antiviral agent, which has been tried for treatment of SFTS. In this study, antiviral activity of ribavirin against SFT...

BACKGROUND Although modified live virus (MLV) vaccines are commonly used for porcine reproductive and respiratory syndrome virus (PRRSV) control, there have been safety concerns due to the quick reversion of MLV to virulence during replication in pigs. Previous studies have demonstrated that mutant viruses emerged from lethal mutagenesis driven by antiviral mutagens and that those viruses had h...

Ribavirin, a nucleic acid analog, has been employed as an antiviral agent against RNA and DNA viruses and has become the standard agent used for chronic hepatitis C in combination with interferon-α2a. Furthermore, the potential antitumor efficacy of ribavirin has attracted increasing interest. Recently, we demonstrated a dose-dependent antitumor effect of ribavirin for seven types of malignant ...

Ribavirin is an antiviral agent used in the treatment of chronic hepatitis C virus infection. One of the limitations associated with the use of ribavirin is a reversible anemia caused by its accumulation in erythrocytes. Therefore, it is of interest to determine ribavirin levels in erythrocytes, as well as in plasma, as these measurements may be predictive of hematotoxicity. In the present stud...