German researchers say they may have found a way to prevent lasting liver damage in virtually every case of hepatitis C as long as treatment can begin during the earliest stages of the potentially fatal infection.
The researchers, led by Dr. Elmar Jaeckel of the Hanover Medical University in Hanover, Germany, say they prevented the development of chronic hepatitis C in 44 volunteers who were aggressively treated with injections of interferon alfa-2b while they were suffering from acute hepatitis C, the short-term version of the illness. In all but one case, daily interferon injections reduced the amount of hepatitis C virus (HCV) in the blood to undetectable levels.
The study is to be published in The New England Journal of Medicine. Reuters