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Patients with hepatitis B e antigen (HBeAg)-negative hepatitis B virus (HBV) infection are typically treated with peginterferon or an oral antiviral agent. Unfortunately, these regimens still result in low rates of durable response. In certain patients with chronic HBV infection, the addition of ribavirin to peginterferon might improve response.
To examine the efficacy of adding ribavirin to peginterferon in this setting, investigators conducted a randomized trial involving 138 HBV patients who were HBeAg negative, had at least two recent occasions of elevated serum levels of alanine aminotransferase (ALT), and had a viral load >100,000 copies/mL. Participants received either peginterferon alfa-2a (180 µg weekly) plus ribavirin (1000–1200 mg…