Real life experience is less favorable than expected in the treatment of chronic hepatitis C

Background/aims: Chronic hepatitis C virus (HCV) infection is a major public health concern in the Middle East and about 2% of the population is infected with HCV in the United Arab Emirates (UAE). Current treatment with pegylated interferon (PEG-IFN) and ribavirin (RBV) is available since 2001. The aim of this study was to monitor the efficacy of the treatment in Tawam Hospital, UAE. Methods: We followed all of our patients who received PEG-IFN and RBV therapy between 2001 and 2007 and collected their treatment related data in a prospective manner. We monitored 158 treatment periods in 80 male and 72 female pat…