Special at school but lonely at home: an alternative friendship group for adolescents with Down syndrome.

Friends play a significant role in mental and physical health; however, individuals with Down syndrome and other developmental disabilities, even those who are included in general education programmes, have not developed friendships as hoped. After a decade of inclusion and structured school programmes to facilitate friendships, many parents report that peer relationships end after school hours. This study compared the efficacy of school based friendship groups with a mixed age home based group.

Ribavirin monotherapy in patients with chronic hepatitis C: a retrospective study of 95 patients.

Ribavirin is a purine nucleoside that inhibits the replication of a variety of RNA viruses and was shown to have a transient efficacy in chronic hepatitis C during short-term therapy. We have analysed retrospectively its efficacy in 95 patients with liver biopsy-proven chronic hepatitis C. Patients received oral ribavirin (600-1200 mg daily) for a mean duration of 11 months.