Chronic hepatitis C (CHC) patients with cirrhosis may be at risk of hepatic decompensation and death when treated with alpha interferons, including PEGASYS.
Lonely people have unusually low numbers of a type of myeloid cell that generates what are known as interferon responses, which hamper viral 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.