Crimean-Congo hemorrhagic fever virus (C-CHFV) strains were isolated from a fatal case and the attending physician in Kosovo, Yugoslavia. Early, rapid diagnosis of the disease was achieved by reverse transcription-polymerase chain reaction. The physician was successfully treated with oral ribavirin. These cases yielded the first genetically studied C-CHFV human isolates in the Balkans.

ABSTRACT The relationship between chronic hepatitis C virus infection (HCV) and oral lichen planus (OLP) is a current topic in the field of oral medicine. Many studies of this association have been made over time. The geographic variation of the hepatitis C prevalence proved to be an important factor influencing the statistical results of the studies analyzing the association of the oral plan l...

BACKGROUND Hepatitis C is a major reason of morbidity and mortality among hemophilia patients. Although combination therapy with peginterferon (peg-INF) and ribavirin is considered as standard treatment for chronic hepatitis C (CHC), but more evidence of the efficacy and safety is needed. OBJECTIVES In this study, efficacy and tolerability of combination therapy with peginterferon α-2a-ribavi...

Only a few substances are known to demonstrate a broad spectrum of antiviral activity against DNA and RNA viruses both in vitro and in vivo. Among these agents, ribavirin (l-P-D-ribofuranosyl-1,2,4-triazole-3-carboxamide) is a well known synthetic compound, structurally related to the naturally occurring ribonucleoside guanosine [ 1 ] . Its synthesis and antiviral activity were first described ...

A 64-year-old woman with history of chronic hepatitis related to Hepatitis C virus [(HCV), genotype 1b] infection received treatment with pegylated interferon (PEG-IFNα2a) and rivabirin noticed a black coloration of her tongue during the thirtythird week of treatment (Figure 1). She had no other relevant past medical history and was a nonsmoker. She did not refer any pain, discomfort or other s...

BACKGROUND Peginterferon-ribavirin therapy is the current standard of care for chronic infection with hepatitis C virus (HCV). The rate of sustained virologic response has been below 50% in cases of HCV genotype 1 infection. Boceprevir, a potent oral HCV-protease inhibitor, has been evaluated as an additional treatment in phase 1 and phase 2 studies. METHODS We conducted a double-blind study ...

IMPORTANCE Treatment of hepatitis C virus (HCV) infection in patients also infected with human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) has been limited due to drug interactions with antiretroviral therapies (ARTs) and the need to use interferon. OBJECTIVE To determine the rates of HCV eradication (sustained virologic response [SVR]) and adverse events in patients with HCV-HIV coinfection receiving sofos...

BACKGROUND Respiratory syncytial virus (RSV) causes significant mortality in patients with hematological diseases, but diagnosis and treatment are uncertain. METHODS We retrospectively identified RSV-infected patients with upper or lower respiratory tract infection (RTI) by culture, antigen testing, and polymerase chain reaction from November 2002 through April 2007. Patients with severe immu...

BACKGROUND & AIMS In Taiwan, patients with chronic hepatitis C virus (HCV) infection are currently treated with pegylated interferon-alpha plus ribavirin, but interferon-based regimens can be poorly tolerated, especially by those with advanced liver disease and the elderly. Sofosbuvir, an oral nucleotide analogue inhibitor of HCV NS5B polymerase, is approved in Europe, the USA and Japan for tre...