I was on 1 year of treatment using interferon & ribavarion, which ended 10/01/01. My viral load was reduced to 3,000 by December viral load went back to 60,000 and Feb, 25, 2002 it rose to 289,000. My doctor is recommending going on peg. I am geno type 1a, I have early stages of Cirrhosis from what my liver biopsy results say. The question is how high should I let my viral load go before going back on treatment. And what is really considered high? What would you recommend? Thank You James
 

 

I would recommend trying to enroll in a trial such as HALT-C (NIH sponsored) which will take pts with cirrhosis who did not respond to an initial course of therapy. it will give 6 months of PEGinterferon + ribavirin, then examine whether low dose PEG IFN can actually slow disease progression, which is an open question at present. please contact the NIH to identify a site nearest you.