Hepatitis B, hepatitis C and HIV co-infection at an antiretroviral centre in Delhi

Abstract

With an estimated 5.7 million people living with HIV/AIDS, India has the highest HIV/AIDS prevalence in the world, according to UNAIDS. Due to similar routes of transmission, co-infection of HIV with hepatitis B and hepatitis C viruses is a common event with significant clinical implications. The present study was undertaken to highlight the profile of patients of HIV with HBV/HCV co-infection, as literature from India on this topic is sparse. Out of 1953 patients suffering from HIV registered at our centre during the study period, 80 patients were co-infected with HBV/HCV. HBV co-infection was detected in 2.61% of patients and HCV co-infection in 1.69% of subjects. Our study demonstrates low HIV /HCV/HBV co-infection rates in Delhi as compared to most other studies from India, which is partly attributable to low incidence of intravenous drug use and infrequent transfusion-related infections in our study group.