Study:
HIV–hepatitis C coinfection increases rate of liver
disease

A new study shows that adults coinfected with both HIV and hepatitis C are much more likely to develop liver disease or die from liver-related complications than patients infected only with HIV or only with HCV, Reuters Health reports. Researchers from Pennsylvania, writing in the American Journal of Gastroenterology, report studying nearly 750 patients for three years--265 with HIV-HCV coinfection, 251 with only hepatitis C, and 227 with only HIV. The discovered that patients with only HIV or only HCV were one third as likely to die from liver complications as those with HIV-HCV coinfection. "HCV-HIV coinfection is associated with worsened liver disease and higher mortality," the researchers conclude in the journal. (The Advocate)