VI International Symposium on Viral Hepatitis: summary.

The VI International Symposium on Viral Hepatitis was held in Madrid, Spain, 3-5 February 1994, under the chairmanship of Dr Vicente Carreño. Over 800 attended from more than 30 countries. Considerable advances have been made since the fifth conference, which was held in 1992. These relate particularly to the role of hepatitis B virus (HBV) mutants and hepatitis C virus (HCV) genotypes and the prolonged assessment of interferon and its side-effects. The role of newer antiviral drugs alone or in combination was stressed. Emphasis was on assessment by serum markers of the actual virus, HBV-DNA and HCV-RNA, rather than by nonspecific serum transaminase estimations.