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COMPARATIVE ANALYSIS OF COMBINED COURSE OF CHRONIC HEPATITIS C AND HIV DEPENDING ON THE ROUTE OF INFECTION
N Sarsekeyeva1, B Kosherova1, N Tabagari-Bregvadze1
1Karaganda State Medical University, Kazakhstan; D. Tvildiani Medical University, Tbilisi, Georgia.
Insights
Hepatitis C virus (HCV) infection in HIV patients varies by transmission route. Sexually transmitted HCV often presents asymptomatically, while injecting drug use leads to more symptoms and active infection.
Area of Science:
- Infectious Diseases
- Hepatology
- Virology
Background:
- Hepatitis C virus (HCV) infection is prevalent in Human Immunodeficiency Virus (HIV)-infected individuals.
- Co-infection presents significant public health challenges due to transmission routes like drug addiction and sexual contact.
- Limited prevention strategies and treatment efficacy highlight the need to understand disease characteristics.
Purpose of the Study:
- To investigate the clinical and laboratory features of chronic Hepatitis C virus (HCV) in HIV-infected patients.
- To determine how the route of HCV infection influences disease presentation and progression in this population.
Main Methods:
- Prospective, open-label, non-randomized study design.
- Inclusion of 58 HIV-positive patients diagnosed with chronic HCV.
- Diagnostic verification using immune blotting for HIV and enzyme immunoassay/PCR for HCV.
Main Results:
- Patients infected with HCV via sexual transmission exhibited an asymptomatic disease course.
- Injecting drug users with HCV/HIV co-infection demonstrated increased clinical symptoms.
- Injecting drug users also showed a moderate level of infectious process activity compared to sexually infected patients.
Conclusions:
- The route of Hepatitis C virus (HCV) infection significantly impacts the clinical presentation and disease activity in co-infected HIV patients.
- Understanding transmission routes is crucial for tailoring management and predicting outcomes in HCV/HIV co-infection.
- Further research into prevention and treatment strategies based on infection routes is warranted.
Abstract:
At present, an infection caused by the hepatitis C virus is common among HIV-infected patients. The rapid growth of drug addiction, sexual route of infection transmission, HIV and HCV infection among young people, low efficiency of treatment and lack of specific means of prevention clearly means that this pathology is to be listed among the first in the modern infectology. The aim of the study was to investigate the characteristics of the course of chronic hepatitis C in HIV-infected patients, depending on the route of infection. Study design was open, non-randomized and prospective. A total of 58 HIV-infected patients with chronic hepatitis C registered in the dispensary at Karaganda Regional Center for Prevention and Control of AIDS were examined. The diagnosis of HIV infection was verified by immune blotting. Etiological hepatitis verification was performed by means of enzyme immunoassay and polymerase chain reaction. We present the clinical and laboratory results of HIV-infected patients with chronic hepatitis C, depending on the route of infection. Patients with the sexually transmitted infection experienced asymptomatic course of the disease. In comparison, injecting drug users showed greater clinical symptomatology and a moderate level of activity of the infectious process. These clinical and laboratory findings suggest that the characteristics of the course of chronic hepatitis C in HIV-infected patients depends on the route of infection.
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