And periodic, random testing of veterans will estimate how many patients are infected. The virus often resists current therapies, and no ideal treatment exists. But the new guidelines should help doctors with treatment planning. While they are a step in the right direction, the guidelines do not go far enough, according to Jere Hough, a VA patient and HCV activist. But based on studies he has seen, Hough believes treatment could be improved if dosing were individualized for patients.
Many people relapse or fail to respond at all.
In essence, he does not believe that people failed treatment, but that treatment failed them. The proposed guidelines the VA circulated late last year lay out a roadmap for treatment. For patients never treated before who are generally healthy, they recommend combination therapy with interferon and ribavirin. After six months, doctors evaluate patients' response to treatment. Genotypes-2 or 3 receive only six months of therapy.