People with HIV who are coinfected with either hepatitis B or C virus
(HBV/HCV) experience diminished response to antiretroviral (ARV)
treatment for HIV and have a greater risk of death when compared with
those monoinfected with HIV, Healio.com reports. Investigators analyzed
data from the TREAT Asia HIV Observational Database on 7,455
HIV-positive study participants receiving treatment at 22 Asian clinics.
Out of those participants with test results that were evaluable, 10.45
percent were coinfected with hep B and 15.2 percent with hep C. The
researchers presented their findings at the 7th International AIDS
Society Conference on HIV Pathogenesis, Treatment and Prevention (IAS
2013) in Kuala Lumpur.
After the participants had been treated
with ARVs for 180 days, those coinfected with hep B had an average of
15.5 fewer CD4 cells and those coinfected with hep C had 37.8 fewer CD4s
when compared with monoinfected participants.
Read more... Labels: HIV treatment response, HIV/HBV coinfection