Prevalence of HCV and HCV/HIV co-infection among in-patients at the Kenyatta National Hospital

Objective: To determine the prevalence of HCV and HCV/HIV co-infection among medical in-patients at the Kenyatta National Hospital. Design: Prospective cross-sectional descriptive study. Setting: Kenyatta National Hospital, a tertiary referral and teaching hospital, in-patient department. Subjects: HIV/AIDS and HIV negative in-patients at KNH medical wards. Results: Among 458 HIV/AIDS medical in-patients, the prevalence of HCV was 3.7% while in the 518 HIV negative patients, it was 4.4%. The prevalence of co-infection with HCV and HIV was 3.7%. The incidence of risk factors in persons with HCV and/ or HIV infection(s) was low. Conclusion: This study found the prevalence of HCV infection among medical in-patients to be similar in HIV positive and HIV negative group of patients. The co-infection rates were low, as were the risk factors for transmission of these infections. East African Medical Journal Vol.82(4) 2005: 170-17

Prevalence of HCV and HIV/HCV co-infection among volunteer blood donors and VCT clients

Objective: To determine the prevalence of HCV infection and HCV/HIV co-infection among voluntary blood donors at the National Blood Transfusion Centre and clients at the Kenyatta National Hospital HIV-Voluntary Counselling and Testing (VCT) Centre. Design: A prospective cross-sectional descriptive study. Setting: Kenyatta National Hospital, a tertiary referral and teaching hospital and the National Blood Transfusion Services Centre, Nairobi. Subjects: Volunteer blood donors and VCT attendants. Results: The prevalence of HCV/HIV co-infection among 6154 blood donors in the NBTSC was very low, at 0.02. The HIV prevalence among the 353 KNH HIV-VCT clients was 9.3%, none of the clients tested positive for HCV. The incidence of risk factors in the persons with HCV and/or HIV infection(s) was low. Conclusion: The prevalence of HCV infection among pre-screened volunteer blood donors was low. However the current practice of screening all donated blood for HCV remains indispensable to prevent its transmission to blood recipients. East African Medical Journal Vol.82(4) 2005: 166-16

Epidemiology of hepatitis C virus infection in HIV-infected individuals

Many individuals are infected with both HIV and hepatitis C virus (HCV) infection. More rapid progression of liver disease is seen, higher levels of HCV RNA encourage transmission and sustained virological responses are lower in coinfected patients. The management of these patients is further complicated by potential interactions between antiretroviral therapy and peginterferon and ribavirin