Hepatitis C Patients with HIV Co-Infection Vulnerable to Serious Liver Disease Despite Antiretroviral Therapy

A study finds that patients co-infected with hepatitis C and HIV who are receiving antiretroviral therapy are 80% more likely to have serious liver disease than those with hepatitis C alone.

Co-infection with HIV in addition to hepatitis C virus (HCV) carries a higher risk of serious liver disease in patients even when they are receiving antiretroviral therapy (ART) than that found in patients with HCV alone, according to a new study by researchers at the University of Pennsylvania.

The study, published in the March 18, 2014, issue of Annals of Internal Medicine, compared outcomes in patients co-infected with HIV and HCV who were undergoing ART treatment with patients who have chronic HCV alone. HCV co-infection occurs in 10% to 30% of HIV-infected patients, according to the study authors.

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