[Chronic hepatitis C drug therapy update]

Chronic hepatitis produced by Hepatitis C Virus (HCV) is a major health problem with relevant healthcare and financial consequences. The major goal of chronic hepatitis C treatment is the eradication of HCV, which is considered an equivalent of disease cure and is defined in terms of sustained viral response (SVR). Therapeutic expectancy has greatly improved over the past five years, going from efficacy rates of approximately 15% SVR using standard interferon monotherapy to an overall response of 55% using pegylated interferons in association with ribavirin. In addition, significant differences in efficacy have been found specially for patient stratification by genotyping and viral load. Such satisfactory clinical findings are associated with a most relevant increase in pharmaceutical costs, as they entail therapeutic measures of high financial impact. Therefore, their inclusion within a Hospital"s Pharmacotherapeutic Guide must be regarded as a part of a rational drug use policy, and usage criteria should be established and compiled into a therapeutic protocol including prescriptions and pharmacotherapeutic monitoring.