Following the findings of a pivotal study led by researchers at Johns Hopkins Children’s Center, the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has green-lighted the use of a powerful combination treatment in children with hepatitis C. 

The study, published in the November 2010 issue of the journal Gastroenterology, showed that children treated with a supercharged combination of two antiviral drugs —PEG interferon injections and daily ribavirin pills — fared much better than those treated with PEG interferon injections alone. The combination treatment was more than twice as effective in eliminating the liver-ravaging viral infection as the single-drug approach, the study showed. 

Prompt treatment with antivirals immediately after diagnosis is critical as such medications can eradicate the hepatitis C virus from the body, virtually eliminating the risk of its two most dreaded complications: irreversible liver scarring that requires a liver transplant and liver cancer. 

“The FDA decision is great news for the tens of thousands of children in this country, and many more worldwide, infected with hepatitis C,” says study lead investigator Kathleen Schwarz, M.D., a hepatologist and director of the Pediatric Liver Center at Hopkins Children’s. “Based on our research findings, we expect that we will see many more children than before clearing the virus completely and leading normal, healthy lives as a result.” 

Click here for the original release on the study.