HIV–HBV Coinfection — A Global Challenge (New Eng Jour Med)

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HIV–HBV Coinfection — A Global Challenge

Athena P. Kourtis, M.D., Ph.D., M.P.H., Marc Bulterys, M.D., Ph.D., Dale J. Hu, M.D., M.P.H., and Denise J. Jamieson, M.D., M.P.H.

N Engl J Med 2012; 366:1749-1752May 10, 2012

Human immunodeficiency virus type 1 (HIV-1) and hepatitis B virus (HBV) exact a high toll worldwide. Both can lead to chronic disease, cancer, and death, and neither can be eradicated with the use of current therapies. Antiviral drug resistance often develops after patients have received treatment for some time and is usually followed by the loss of clinical benefit. Coinfection with the two viruses exacerbates the negative effects.

Worldwide, HBV is the leading cause of chronic liver disease and a leading cause of death, accounting for up to half of all cases of cirrhosis and hepatocellular carcinoma.1 An estimated 400 million people are infected with HBV,1 with the majority of cases occurring in regions of Asia and Africa where the virus is endemic. There, up to 70% of adults show serologic evidence of current or prior infection, and 8 to 15% have chronic HBV infection.

These staggering infection rates largely reflect a failure of maternal and child health programs. The majority of HBV infections in settings where the virus is highly endemic occur through perinatal transmission (predominant in East and Southeast Asia) or in young children, transmitted through close household contact or through medical or traditional scarification procedures (predominant in Africa). Perinatal HBV infection is associated with a 90% risk of chronic hepatitis B, as compared with a risk of less than 5% among adults with intact immunity. The risk of perinatal transmission is lower in Africa than in Asia, a disparity that could be due to a lower prevalence of hepatitis B e antigen (HBeAg) and other differences in the pathogenic characteristics of circulating HBV genotypes.

According to the Joint United Nations Program on HIV/AIDS (UNAIDS), about 33 million people are infected with HIV worldwide, and the majority of them live in Asia and Africa. Approximately 10% of the HIV-infected population has concurrent chronic hepatitis B, with coinfection more common in areas of high prevalence for both viruses. In countries where the viruses are highly endemic, the rate can be as high as 25%.

http://www.nejm.org/doi/full/10.1056/NEJMp1201796?query=TOC