Straight-erected hair in hepatitis C male patients treated with pegylated interferon and ribavirin

This was a observational analysis using the data retrieved from Egypt’s National Hepatology and Tropical Medicine Research Institute. The evaluations included 500 hepatitis C virus patients on antiviral therapy (INF and ribavirin) who were collected randomly to be evaluated for their hair changes that occur during different stages of treatment from the first week of treatment till the 48th week of their antiviral therapy course. Out of 500 participants, we found hair changes in 17.3% in the form of straight, erect hair in 3% and other hair problems like diffuse hair loss in 13.4% and alopecia areata in 0.8%. Finally, we observed straight, erect hair is a new entity to be described in patients on INF and ribavirin therapy.