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According to the results of a study
by Dr. Thomas Martin of Chelsea and Westminster Hospital, London, United
Kingdom, approximately 25 percent of HIV-infected individuals who are cured of
hepatitis C virus (HCV) infection acquired a second and sometimes a third HCV
infection within 24 months of the initial cure. Martin noted that liver disease
was one of the leading non-AIDS causes of death among HIV-infected individuals.
Also, earlier studies showed that HIV coinfection reduced spontaneous clearance
of HCV infection, reduced the rate of successful treatment, and could lead to
cirrhosis three times faster.
Martin and colleagues analyzed
reinfection rates in 191 HIV patients with primary HCV infection treated at the
Chelsea and Westminster Hospital. The researchers defined reinfection as a new
positive HCV RNA polymerase chain reaction 24 weeks or more after HCV
treatment, spontaneous clearance of the virus, or the emergence of HCV with a
different genotype in a 24-month period. The rate of reinfection was 7.8 per
100 patient-years among this group of participants. The HCV infection was
cleared from the 17 of the 32 reinfected patients after treatment or by
spontaneous remission. Eight of the 17 patients acquired a third HCV infection,
resulting in a rate of 23.2 per 100 patient-years. The second and third
reinfections cleared spontaneously in 20 percent of patients and, with
treatment, complete viral clearance occurred in 80 percent.
Martin noted that researchers found
no evidence of protective immunity from the first HCV infection and the
participants remained at high risk for reinfection. The researchers concluded
that gay men needed counseling to understand the risk of reinfection and the
importance of prevention. Implications for future monitoring indicated that in
cases where a patient had been cured of previous HCV infection, a clinician
needed to use an RNA viral load test to diagnose reinfection.
This study was presented at the
Seventh International AIDS Society Conference on HIV Pathogenesis, Treatment,
and Prevention, June 30–July 3, 2013, in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia.
The Friends of AIDS Foundation is
dedicated to enhancing the quality of life for HIV positive individuals and
empowering people to make healthy choices to prevent the spread of the HIV
virus.
To learn more about The Friends of
AIDS Foundation, please visit: http://www.friendsofaids.org.
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