Seroepidemiology of HCV-HIV coinfection in Tunisia.

作者信息

Kilani Badreddine, Ammari Lamia, Marrakchi Chekib, Letaief Amel, Chakroun Mohamed, Ben Jemaa Mounir, Ben Aïssa Hanene Tiouiri, Kanoun Fakher, Ben Chaabène Taoufik

机构信息

Dpt of infectious diseases, Rabta Hospital, Tunis, Tunisia.

出版信息

Tunis Med. 2007 Feb;85(2):121-3.

AIM

To determine the prevalence of antibodies to hepatitis C virus (HCV) in a cohort of patients infected with human immunodeficiency virus 1 (HIV-1) and to compare risk factors.

METHODS

Multicenter retrospective study from infectious diseases department in Tunisia. We examined sera from HIV patients followed in these centers. Diagnosis of HCV infection was based on third generation enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) test.

RESULTS

362 HIV-1 patients were included in the study. The mean age was 35,5 years. 272 patients (75.13%) were male. Sexual transmission of HIV was the main risk factor (56.3%). 144 patients (39.7%) had antibodies against HCV, mainly in patients with history of intravenous drug abuse (78.4%). Quantitative evaluation of hepatitis C virus RNA was done only in 3 patients.

CONCLUSION

HCV-HIV coinfection in tunisian patients occurs frequently, due to the same ways of transmission. More studies are needed to focus on sexual transmission of hepatitis C virus in order to prevent such infections rather than interferon-based therapies.