Clearance of chronic HCV infection during acute delta hepatitis.

The course of chronic hepatitis C in acute HDV/HBV superinfection is unknown. Here, we report a patient with chronic hepatitis C who cleared HCV during acute self-limited hepatitis B/D superinfection. Recovery from HCV was associated with the appearance of a strong and multispecific HDV-specific memory CD4+ and CD8+ T cell response - but only weak HCV-specific CD4+ T cell responses. These data suggest that HCV can be cleared by bystander mechanisms during acute infections with other pathogens which may be considered in the development of immunotherapies for hepatitis C.