Hep C combo of interferon and ribavirin
(IFN/RBV) to 51 patients with hep C and HIV. All but four were either
on HIV combination therapy already, or started it at the same time.
After 12 months of the hep C treatment, only 11 patients - 21 per cent
- showed evidence that their hepatitis had been cured. A quarter of the
patents stopped the treatment because of side effects.
Dr Landau did not use the more effective pegylated form of interferon,
and his co-infected patients did not in fact do any worse than a similar
group with hep C alone. But these success figures are still only half
of those reported from clinical trials.
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A new study finds that it is drug-experienced people, not people new
to HIV therapy, who have most difficulty taking their pills. It says you
can't afford to miss more than one dose a week. And it finds that the
usual way people blow their treatment chances is by taking 'drug holidays'
of several days, rather than forgetting single doses.
The study looked at 41 patients new to HIV therapy in Philadelphia all
on combos based on the protease inhibitor nelfinavir. Their adherence
was measured by electronic caps on their nelfinavir bottles.
61 per cent of patients achieved a viral load under 50. Taken as a group,
their
nelfinavir adherence was 93 per cent - that means forgetting no more than one dose a week on a twice-daily regime.
