RESPONSE RATE OF SOFOSBUVIR BASED ANTIVIRAL THERAPY AMONG PATIENTS INFECTED WITH HEPATITIS C VIRUS GENOTYPE 3A

Objective: To evaluate the efficacy of dual therapy of Sofosbuvir and Ribavirin among treatment-naive and non-respondersof Interferon based antiviral regimens against HCV genotype 3a infected patients.Material & Methods: A longitudinal study was conducted on 100 HCV genotype 3a infected patients from December2016 to September 2017. Patients were initially divided into two groups including Group-A (n=50/100) as treatmentnaive, and Group-B (n=50/100) including non-responders. All patients received Sofosbuvir and RBV for 24weeks. HCVgenotype was determined using Type-specific nested PCR based genotyping assay. Viral RNA was detected usingqualitative or real-time PCR.Results: After 4 weeks of treatment, HCV RNA was undetectable in 100 of Group A patients, while Group B patientsachieved 92% RVR. SVR12 was 96% in treatment naive Group A patients, while Group B patients achieved an SVR12 of90%. There were no significant differences in the SVR12 rates between the two treatment groups (Pearson Chi-Squaretest, p-value >0.05). The association of RVR and SVR12 was found statistically significant (Pearson Chi-Square test,p- value<0.05).Conclusion: Sofosbuvir and RBV is highly effective among the treatment-naive and previously treated chronic HCVgenotype 3a infected patients.