Viral hepatitis: A brief introduction, review of management, advances and challenges

Table 4 Comparing pegylated-interferon therapy to nucelos(t)ide analogues therapy

	PEG-IFN	NA
Route of administration	Subcutaneous	Oral
Length of treatment	48 wk	Long-term in chronic HBV (stopping may be considered in some cases[13]); 8-16 wk in HCV
Contraindications	Many (i.e., decompensated disease, comorbidities)	None (dose adjustment according to eGFR)
Tolerance	Inferior tolerability	Excellent tolerance
Side effects	Significant adverse events (psychiatric, neurologic, endocrinological)	Renal impairment (some DAA)[12]
SVR in HCV	40%-75%[94,95]	> 90%[46]
Efficacy in chronic HBV	> 30% HBeAg loss; 3%-5% HBsAg loss[96]	> 11%-18% eAg loss (lower rate of HBeAg seroconversion); Very low HBsAg loss[97]
Cost	Expensive	Expensive when given long-term (i.e., chronic HBV infection)[98]
Resistance	No	Yes

PEG-IFN: Pegylated interferon; NA: Nucelos(t)ide analogues; HCV: Hepatitis C virus; HBeAg: Hepatitis B e-antigen; HBV: Hepatitis B virus; HBsAg: Hepatitis B surface antigen; DDA: Direct-acting antiviral.