Figure 1

Group 1 (N = 9) received a continues dose of 10 MU INTERFERON daily for 28 days. Group 2 (dose reduction group, N = 15) reduced from 10 MU INTERFERON daily to 3 MU INTERFERON daily after 3 days of treatment. After the viral load data was log-transformed, the geometric means were calculated for the 2 groups for each time-point of viral load measurement. The created mean viral for group 1 clearly shows a biphasic decline in viral load as previously described for chronic HCV. Viral decline in the patients with a INTERFERON dose reduction (line Group 2) is more complex: a rebound in viral load is observed coinciding with the time of INTERFERON dose reduction.