Heterosexual co-transmission of hepatitis C virus (HCV) and human immunodeficiency virus (HIV)

Article Abstract:

Hepatitis is a viral inflammatory disease of the liver, frequently transmitted by a blood-borne route. Hepatitis C (HCV, formerly called non-A, non-B hepatitis) is the form of hepatitis most commonly transmitted by blood transfusion. Recent studies have shown that between 60 and 82 percent of patients with severe hemophilia (a blood clotting disorder) receiving replacement therapy with clotting factor concentrate (derived from donor blood) are infected with HCV; these levels are similar to the rate of infection with the human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) in this group of patients (prior to the initiation of widespread screening of donor blood for HIV). While blood transfusion is recognized as a means by which HCV is transmitted, it is not known whether transmission also occurs by means of sexual intercourse, as it does for HIV. To determine the frequency of infection with HCV in female sexual partners of HCV-infected male hemophiliacs, a study was carried out involving 234 women who had been sexual partners of hemophiliac men. These men had been subjected to multiple transfusions and diagnosed with HCV; many of them were also infected with HIV. The prevalence of HCV among the group of women was 2.6 percent; the prevalence of HIV infection was 12.8 percent. Three percent of the partners of HIV-positive HCV-positive men were infected with HCV; none of the partners of HIV-negative HCV positive men were infected with HCV, indicating that HIV-positive men are more effective transmitters of the HCV virus than HIV-negative men. Hence, there is a low, but measurable rate of HCV transmission by heterosexual intercourse, and HIV infection facilitates transmission of the hepatitis virus. (Consumer Summary produced by Reliance Medical Information, Inc.)

Sexually transmitted diseases, Complications and side effects, Physiological aspects, Liver diseases, Hepatitis C, Disease transmission, Hepatitis C virus

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Predictive markers for the acquired immunodeficiency syndrome (AIDS) in hemophiliacs: persistence of p24 antigen and low T4 cell count

Article Abstract:

Hemophiliacs are at risk for acquiring the human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) through transfusions of HIV-infected donor blood. HIV compromises the immune system by infecting T4 lymphocytes, a specialized white blood cell involved in the immune response. As more cells become infected with the virus, the number of T4 lymphocytes decreases and the patient's immune system becomes less effective. Symptoms of the acquired immunodeficiency syndrome (AIDS) develop when the measure of antibodies created by the body to fight HIV decreases as the amount of p24 antigen (a measurement of HIV) increases. One study reported that high levels of gp120 antibodies are found in patients with AIDS-related complex, a precursor to AIDS producing milder symptoms. The value of measuring p24 antibodies, p24 antigens, gp120 antibodies and T4 lymphocytes in 87 HIV-positive hemophiliacs is reported. The HIV p24 antigen was detected in 8 out of 74 (11 percent) patients without AIDS and 7 out of 13 (54 percent) of the patients with AIDS. AIDS developed two years later in 24 percent of the patients with detectable p24 antigen, 16 percent of the patients with loss of p24 antibodies, 20 percent of the patients who had lost gp120 antibody and 31 percent of the patients with a T4 count less than 200. AIDS developed two years later in 67 percent of the patients with T4 counts less than 200 and detectable p24 antigens. Therefore, p24 antigen and low T4 cell counts are strong predictors of AIDS in HIV-positive hemophiliacs. These measurements can be helpful in determining prognosis, counseling and planning drug therapy. (Consumer Summary produced by Reliance Medical Information, Inc.)

Measurement, Testing, HIV (Viruses), HIV, T cells, Antigenic determinants

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Survival after AIDS diagnosis in a cohort of hemophilia patients

Article Abstract:

Survival of hemophiliacs with AIDS depends largely on the AIDS-defining disease they develop. After HIV patients with the bleeding disorder were diagnosed with AIDS, they survived 3 to 51 months. Survival was shortest for patients with neurological diseases, such as AIDS dementia.

United States, Statistical Data Included, Diseases

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