Co-infection of hepatitis C virus among newly diagnosed HIV-infected adults in Taizhou prefecture of Zhejiang province, China / 中华流行病学杂志

ABSTRACT

Objective To examine the prevalence and correlates of hepatitis C virus (HCV) co-infection as well as plasma HCV viral load among newly diagnosed HIV-infected adults during 2009-2012 in Taizhou prefecture of Zhejiang province,China.Methods Five hundred and seventy-two adults who were newly diagnosed as HIV-infection were screened for anti-HCV immunoglobulin G (IgG).Plasma HCV RNA was quantified if positive for HCV IgG.Results Forty-two (7.3％) out of the 572 HIV-infected adults were tested positive for HCV IgG.HCV infection was more likely to occur among participants who were infected with HIV through blood transmission (OR=49.46,95％CI13.71-178.48).Otherwise,HCV infection was less likely to occur among participants who were under 46-86 years of age (OR=0.12,95％CI0.02-0.58),those with mode of homosexual transmission of HIV (OR=0.11,95％ C I0.01-0.86),with education of high school or above (OR=0.13,95％ CI0.02-0.78).Thirty-three (78.6％) of the total 42 HIV-HCV patients with coinfection had detectable plasma HCV RNA,whereas 9 (21.4％) had undetectable plasma HCV RNA (i.e.,lower than 5.0 × 102 IU/ml) or known as relative HCV viral suppression.No significant associations were noticed on factors asHCV viral suppression and demographics,HIV transmission route and CD4 + T-cell counts according to univariate regression analyses.Conclusion Prevalence of HCV co-infection was relatively high among newly diagnosed HIV-infected adults in this study area.Majority of the HIV-HCV coinfected patients had detectable plasma HCV RNA,of which the long term impact on disease progression deserves called for further research.