Hepatitis C treatments don't seem to work as well in African Americans

July 2004

Hepatitis C treatments don't seem to work as well in African Americans as in other groups...for hepatitis C virus (HCV) genotype 1.

Peginterferon alfa-2b (PEG-Intron) and ribavirin (Rebetol) are effective for HCV genotype 1 in 52% of whites...but only in 19% of African Americans.

Researchers used to think the difference in effectiveness was due to the treatment-resistant HCV genotype 1 that's more common in African Americans. But now research shows that the poor response is not explained by HCV genotype.

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