Objective:

To evaluate the efficacy of treatment with direct-acting antivirals (DAAs) in pediatric patients (3-17 years) with chronic hepatitis C.

Method:

Experimental, prospective, longitudinal and analytical study. 73 patients were included, evaluated between 2022 and 2025. Confirmed RNA diagnosis of HCV in blood. They were divided into 3 groups (1, 2, 3), according to the treatment received: Sofosbuvir/daclatasvir, sofosbuvir/ribavirin or sofosbuvir/velpatasvir, respectively.

Results:

patients with hematoncological comorbidities 42/73 (57.53%), chronic kidney disease 12/73 (16.44%), hemolytic anemia 8/73 (10.96%), surgical 4/73 (5.48%), others: 8/73 (10.96%). No cases of vertical transmission were documented. Genotype 1 was the most frequent 58/73 (79.45%). Sustained viral response (SVR) was obtained in 51/53 (96.23%) who performed viral load at 12 weeks. No post-treatment load has been received from 20 patients (28.38%). Seven patients were retreated; 6/7 had been treated with ribavirin + sofosbuvir and 1 (1.35%) due to reinfection. No adverse events. Based on these findings, the comparative effectiveness of the different schemes used is established.

Conclusions:

The DAAs were shown to be effective and safe in the pediatric population treated. The sofosbuvir/ribavirin regimen should not be used, since there are pangenotypic treatments available. This series represents one of the first local reports on the systematic use of DAAs with different schemes in children and adolescents with hepatitis C in Venezuela.