Efficacy of oral ribavirin treatment in Crimean-Congo haemorrhagic fever: A quasi-experimental study from Turkey
Date
2009Author
Elaldi, NazifBodur, Hurrem
Ascioglu, Sibel
Celikbas, Aysel
Ozkurt, Zulal
Vahaboglu, Haluk
Leblebicioglu, Hakan
Yilmaz, Neziha
Engin, Aynur
Sencan, Mehmet
Aydin, Kemalettin
Dokmetas, Ilyas
Cevik, Mustafa Aydin
Dokuzoguz, Basak
Tasyaran, Mehmet Ali
Ozturk, Recep
Bakir, Mehmet
Uzun, Ramazan
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Objective: The aim of this study was to evaluate the efficacy of oral ribavirin treatment in patients with Crimean-Congo haemorrhagic fever (CCHF). Methods: In 2004, all patients diagnosed with CCHF were treated with oral ribavirin, however in 2003 none of the CCHF patients had been given treatment due to Lack of confirmatory diagnostic information at that time in Turkey. In this study, patients treated with ribavirin in 2004 (n = 126) were compared with ribavirin-untreated CCHF patients (n = 92) in 2003. Patients only with a definitive diagnosis of CCHF (clinical symptoms plus the presence of specific IgM antibodies against CCHF virus and presence of viral antigen) were included in this study. Results: There was no difference in the case-fatality rate between treated and untreated patients (7.1% vs. 11.9%; P > 0.05). A Cox Proportional Hazards regression analysis revealed that altered sensorium and prolonged international normalized ratio were independent predictors of mortality. Conclusion: Our results showed that oral ribavirin treatment did not improve the survival rate in CCHF patients. Ribavirin and supportive care are the only available choices for treatment of CCHF patients, but to ascertain the efficacy of ribavirin, more laboratory and observational studies are necessary and ultimately, to elucidate these conflicting results and evaluate the efficacy undoubtedly, a multicenter randomised controlled trial will be needed. (C) 2009 The British Infection Society. Published by Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.
Source
JOURNAL OF INFECTIONVolume
58Issue
3Collections
- Makale Koleksiyonu [5200]
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