Date: Fri, 15 Dec 2000 08:06:08 -0600 (CST)

From Arcamax Health:  

HEPATITIS C DRUG OVERWHELMS VIRUS  

One of the few drugs available to treat hepatitis C has been shown to kill viruses by generating a flood of new mutations that overwhelm the microbe, researchers say. This mechanism is called error catastrophe, they say. The researchers from the University of California, San Francisco, have been studying the drug ribarivin. They say the mechanism they uncovered should help pharmaceutical companies to create more effective versions of the drug to cure a larger proportion of hepatitis C patients. That ribavirin destroys viruses by generating excess mutations comes as a surprise because viruses that the drug attacks usually profit from their ability to mutate, said Shane Crotty of the department of microbiology and immunology.