Efficacy and Safety of Direct Acting Antiviral Therapy for Chronic Hepatitis C in Thalassemic Children.

OBJECTIVES: There is limited data on the efficacy and safety of directly acting antiviral therapy (DAA) for chronic hepatitis C in pediatric population. The aim was to assess the efficacy and safety of DAA in chronic hepatitis C β-thalassemic major pediatric patients.

METHODS: Prospective study was conducted from September 2015 to January 2017. All β-thalassemic major chronic hepatitis C pediatric patients with age between 5 and 14 years were included in this study. Data related to demography, laboratory parameters, hepatitis C viral load, genotype and outcome of antiviral therapy was analyzed. DAA was planned according to EASL guidelines 2015 for chronic hepatitis C therapy in adults.

OBSERVATIONS: Fourteen β-thalassemic major patients (median age was 9.5 y, 12 male) were studied. All patients were of genotype 3, received DAA (sofosbuvir 400 mg+daclatasvir 80 mg) for 12 weeks. The median viral load was 2.5×10 IU/mL. End of treatment response and sustained virological response at 12 weeks was achieved in all the patients. Serum alanine aminotransferase, aspartate aminotransferase, ferritin, and albumin significantly reduced after DAA.

CONCLUSIONS: DAA in adult dosage are safe and effective for treatment of chronic hepatitis C (genotype 3) in pediatric β-thalassemic major population.