Research Plus

Hepatitis C treatment options

Current treatment for chronic hepatitis C virus (HCV) is generally based on pegylated interferon-alpha and the nucleoside inhibitor ribavirin, with around 70%–80% of patients clearing the virus. This Cochrane systematic review examines comparative evidence for a new class of antiviral drug, the aminoadamantanes. It includes six randomised controlled trials covering 581 patients where amantadine – the main drug in the class – is compared with ‘standard’ treatments. Evidence quality is rated very low, with high risk of bias. There is only low quality evidence that amantadine results in fewer patients having a sustained virological response compared with ribavirin, and very low quality evidence of no significantly different clinical outcomes compared with either interferon-alpha or interferon-gamma. Overall, there is insufficient quality evidence to either refute or recommend amantadine as a treatment option for chronic HCV.

Aminoadamantanes versus other antiviral drugs for chronic hepatitis C. Cochrane Database of Systematic Reviews 2014; 6: CD011132.

Tags evidence based practice hepatitis

Occupational Health at Work August/September 2014 (vol. 11/2) pp42-43