Chronic hepatitis C (CHC) patients with cirrhosis may be at risk of hepatic decompensation and death when treated with alpha interferons, including PEGASYS.
When the risk of blood clots is high, therapy usually involves lowering the platelet count by using medications like hydroxyurea, interferon-alpha, and anagrelide.
Lonely people have unusually low numbers of a type of myeloid cell that generates what are known as interferon responses, which hamper viral replication.
Like, studies have found that a significant number of patients with life-threatening COVID-19 have problems with their interferons, proteins that help spot viruses and interfere with their replication.
So, a person's unique blend of interferon genes may end up explaining whether they develop symptoms, and not just because the proteins interact with the virus directly.
Chronic treatment for multiple sclerosis includes immunosuppressants like recombinant beta-IFN which decreases the level of inflammatory cytokines in the brain and increases the function of T regulatory cells.
As an alternative to tuberculin skin test, there are also interferon gamma release assays or IGRAs which look for evidence in the blood of previous exposure to TB proteins.