What is the Connection Between HIV and Hepatitis?

As roughly a third of patients infected with HIV also have hepatitis, there is a definite connection between HIV and hepatitis. The connection is due to the similarities of both the viruses and populations of people most at risk for infection. In rare cases, drugs used to treat HIV have caused a patient to develop hepatitis. Treating a co-infection of this nature requires constant medical attention.

If a patient has both HIV and hepatitis, he or she is most likely to have hepatitis C. Hepatitis C and HIV are blood-borne viruses transmitted through the sharing of bodily fluids. Both viruses can infect a person simultaneously and have long incubation periods. The latter fact is significant, as a newly infected patient can spread the virus to many other people before he or she experiences any symptom of either disease. Besides common characteristics between the viruses, similar populations contribute to the high rate of co-infection.

Intravenous drug users and those who do not practice safe sex have the highest risk of becoming infected with HIV and hepatitis. These lifestyle choices can allow both viruses to spread quickly and infect a large number of people. The presence of HIV and hepatitis has the effect of causing the symptoms of hepatitis to develop much more quickly. As such, a patient has a higher chance of incurring liver damage, raising the odds that he or she will need a liver transplant.

In some cases, a patient receiving treatment for HIV can develop hepatitis as a side effect. The drug AZT was one of the first antiretrovirals developed to treat HIV in the 1990s. One of the drug's side effects is a form of liver inflammation and scarring identical to that created by hepatitis C. Damage occurs as the drug is filtered out of the bloodstream through the liver. Though AZT is still a common treatment for HIV, newer drug cocktails have had more success in lowering incidents of medication-induced hepatitis.

A patient with HIV and hepatitis requires constant medical attention to maintain both a normal lifespan and high quality of life. In addition to a costly course of antiretrovirals to treat HIV, a long course of interferon is required to treat hepatitis C. The rate of success in treating hepatitis C depends on both the time since infection and the virus' specific genetic makeup. The fact that one's prognosis decreases with time with both diseases is a clear indication that everyone at risk should undergo testing as soon as possible.