Coinfection with hepatitis C virus among HIV-positive people in the Kathmandu Valley, Nepal.
BACKGROUND
Previous research has studied the rate of hepatitis C virus (HCV) coinfection among HIV-positive people regardless of their antiretroviral therapy (ART) status. Our objectives were to measure the seroprevalence of HCV both in HIV-positive people receiving ART and in those not receiving ART and to describe the characteristics of coinfected people in the Kathmandu Valley, Nepal.


METHODS
We conducted a cross-sectional survey of 319 HIV-positive people residing in the Kathmandu Valley, Nepal. We screened the participants' serum samples for HCV antibodies using the Latex Photometric Immunoassay based on third-generation assay.


RESULTS
A total of 138 (43.3%) participants were HCV positive. The prevalence of HCV coinfection was 96.2% (125 of 130) among participants with lifetime injection drug use (IDU). Among participants not receiving ART, the coinfection rate was 58.1% (50 of 86) compared with 37.8% (88 of 233) among those receiving ART. In multivariable analysis, participants who reported lifetime IDU and were current smokers were more likely to have HCV coinfection. The adjusted odds ratio (AOR) of HCV coinfection for ART was decreased, although it was not statistically significant (AOR = 0.45; 95% confidence interval = 0.13-1.48).


CONCLUSIONS
The high prevalence of HCV coinfection among both individuals receiving ART and those not receiving ART suggests that screening for HCV among HIV-positive people would be useful, in particular, for those with lifetime IDU and soon after their HIV diagnosis.
Department of Public Health, School of Public Health and Health Sciences, University of Massachusetts Amherst, Amherst, MA, USA.
Krishna C
KC
Poudel
Paula H
PH
Palmer
Masamine
M
Jimba
Tetsuya
T
Mizoue
Jun
J
Kobayashi
Kalpana
K
Poudel-Tandukar
D000328:Adult; D044966:Anti-Retroviral Agents / Q000627:therapeutic use; D060085:Coinfection / Q000453:epidemiology*; D003430:Cross-Sectional Studies; D005260:Female; D015658:HIV Infections / Q000188:drug therapy / Q000453:epidemiology*; D019698:Hepatitis C, Chronic / Q000453:epidemiology*; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D015999:Multivariate Analysis; D009390:Nepal; D012907:Smoking / Q000453:epidemiology; D015819:Substance Abuse, Intravenous / Q000453:epidemiology
D044966:Anti-Retroviral Agents
HCV; HIV; Nepal; antiretroviral therapy; coinfection