Effect of Ribavirin on Viral Hepatitis in Laboratory Animals

Human viral hepatitis has continued to be of major concern to public health authorities because of its relative high rate of incidence throughout the world.'The disease is generally regarded as being at least two entities, Type A (infectious) hepatitis and Type B (serum) hepatitis, caused by separate, as yet not fully characterized, viruses.It is unfortunate that despite the severe public health problem of these diseases, experimental systems that could be used to evaluate potential chemotherapeutic agents for treatment of hepatitis are virtually nonexistent.The broad-spectrum antiviral activity2-6 of the triazole nucleoside I-P-D-ribofuranosyl-I ,2,4-triazole-3-carboxamide (ribavirin) suggested possible utility against viruses causing hepatitis.This potential efficacy was further enhanced by the finding