Importance of health education at a secondary school: experience with a course on viral hepatitis

The hepatitis C virus is the main causative agent for sporadic as well as parenteral cases of non-A non-B hepatitis. Alpha interferon is a biologically active protein produced by B lymphocytes and monocytes which can be manufactured by recombinant DNA technology. Treatment of chronic hepatitis C with interferon in adults is associated with a sustained response in 20-25% of treated cases. First studies provide encouraging results for the use of interferon in the treatment of chronic hepatitis C in children, but controlled trials using this drug in a larger population of children are needed.