Health Dictionary
Reliable, easy-to-read patient information on common medical conditions — written in plain language, free of jargon, and grounded in current evidence. Browse the most frequent diagnoses, understand what they mean for everyday life, and learn which steps and questions help you have a focused conversation with your doctor.
HIV coinfection with hepatitis c epidemiology and demographics
Introduction
Epidemiology
Epidemiology
The majority of coinfected people are injection drug user (IDUs). HCV is acquired relatively soon after individuals begin injecting drugs. Within 5 years of beginning to inject, 50% to 80% of IDUs are infected with HCV. As a result, many IDUs who become infected with HIV are already infected with HCV. It is estimated that 50% to 90% of IDUs with HIV also have HCV .
Between 1996 and 2000, more than 80% of the patients admitted to a large HIV/AIDS care center in Madrid, Spain, were IDUs. The proportion of these patients who were admitted because of liver failure almost doubled, from 9% to 16%.
Prevalence
About one-third of people with HIV are coinfected with hepatitis B virus (HBV) or hepatitis C virus (HCV), with a considerably higher prevalence among injection-drug users.
References
References
Editor-In-Chief: C. Michael Gibson, M.S., M.D. [1]