RESUMEN
BACKGROUND AND AIMS: Chronic hepatitis C genotype 6 is common in Hong Kong, especially among i.v. drug abusers. Responses of these patients to combination of pegylated interferon and ribavirin treatment were inconsistent and the numbers of patients involved in previous studies were small. We performed a retrospective study to compare the therapeutic responses of this regimen in patients infected with genotype 6 and genotype 1. METHODS: Seventy patients with either genotype 6 or genotype 1 were recruited. Both groups received 800-1200 mg of ribavirin daily plus either 180 mg of pegylated alpha-interferon-2a or 1.5 mg/kg pegylated alpha-interferon-2b weekly for 48 weeks. Their responses to treatments were compared. RESULTS: The early virological response to combination therapy of patients with genotype 6 was significantly better than that of genotype 1 (88.6% vs 74.3%, P = 0.03). Significant difference was also identified in the end of treatment response of the two genotypes (60% vs 81.4% for genotype 1 and 6, respectively; P = 0.005). The sustained virological response (SVR) to treatment in patients with genotype 6 was also significantly superior to that of patients with genotype 1 (75.7% vs 57.1%, P = 0.02). Multiple logistic regression analysis demonstrated that age of 55 years or less, genotypes of hepatitis C virus, liver biopsy staging and baseline hepatitis C virus RNA of 200,000 IU/mL or less were independent predictors for better SVR in this cohort. CONCLUSION: Patients with chronic hepatitis C genotype 6 respond better to pegylated interferon and ribavirin combination treatment than patients with genotype 1.
Asunto(s)
Antivirales/uso terapéutico , Virus de la Hepatitis B/genética , Hepatitis C Crónica/tratamiento farmacológico , Interferón-alfa/uso terapéutico , Polietilenglicoles/uso terapéutico , Ribavirina/uso terapéutico , Adolescente , Adulto , Factores de Edad , Anciano , Antivirales/efectos adversos , Biopsia , Distribución de Chi-Cuadrado , Quimioterapia Combinada , Femenino , Genotipo , Hepatitis C Crónica/diagnóstico , Hong Kong , Humanos , Interferón alfa-2 , Interferón-alfa/efectos adversos , Modelos Logísticos , Masculino , Persona de Mediana Edad , Fenotipo , Polietilenglicoles/efectos adversos , ARN Viral/sangre , Proteínas Recombinantes , Estudios Retrospectivos , Ribavirina/efectos adversos , Medición de Riesgo , Factores de Riesgo , Factores de Tiempo , Resultado del Tratamiento , Carga Viral , Adulto JovenRESUMEN
We sequenced severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) genomes from deep throat saliva samples of three imported cases in Hong Kong by Nanopore sequencing. Epidemiological and clinical features of these coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) cases were presented for genomic epidemiology studies.