Definition of "ribavirin" [ribavirin]

• A synthetic antiviral ribonucleoside, C8H12N4O5, that inhibits the replication of DNA and RNA, used to treat respiratory syncytial virus. (noun)

American Heritage(R) Dictionary of the English Language, Fifth Edition. Copyright (c) 2011 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.

• "The midstage clinical trial "Quantum" was testing 235 patients who were receiving PSI-938 alone, or in combination with PSI-7977, or in combination with both PSI-7977 and another drug called ribavirin."
• "Six months to a year of weekly injections of the drug interferon, which helps the immune system fight viruses, combined with a daily pill called ribavirin, has doctors claiming success rates as high as 99 percent."
• "Currently fewer than half of patients with genotype 1 hepatitis C are treated effectively by the standard combination of two drugs, peginterferon alfa-2b plus ribavirin, which is typically given for 48 weeks."