Combination therapy (interferon alfa and ribavirin) in the treatment of chronic hepatitis C: a rapid and systematic review.

Hepatitis C is a viral disease of the liver, which frequently causes few or no symptoms at first infection but has a high probability of becoming an insidious chronic disease. Treatment has traditionally been with interferon alfa but only a small proportion of patients have been cured by this method. The recent introduction of ribavirin, given in combination, has led to a re-appraisal of the management of chronic hepatitis C. The current report considers the additional benefit of combination therapy (interferon alfa and ribavirin) compared with monotherapy (interferon alfa alone) for the treatment of patients with chronic hepatitis C. It supersedes two reports of combination therapy conducted by the Scottish Health Purchasing Information Centre and the Wessex Institute for Health Research and Development.