FRIDAY, Nov. 9 (HealthDay News) -- Black women infected with
both hepatitis C virus (HCV) and HIV are less likely to die from
liver disease than white or Hispanic women with the two infections,
a new study finds.
University of California, San Francisco researchers looked at
794 U.S. women with HIV/HCV co-infection. During an average
follow-up of nearly nine years, 438 of the women died, 37 percent
from HIV/AIDS and 11 percent from liver disease.
The death rate was nearly 56 percent for blacks, 56 percent for
whites, and 52 percent for Hispanics. Liver disease was the primary
cause of death in 21 percent of Hispanics, 14 percent of whites and
8 percent of blacks.
The study was published in the November issue of the journal
Hepatology.
Further research is needed to determine why black women with HIV
and HCV are less likely to die of liver disease than white or
Hispanic women with HIV/HCV co-infection, study author Dr. Monika
Sarkar said in a journal news release.
About 5 million Americans are infected with HCV, including
one-third of people with HIV, the release noted. HCV infection is
the second leading cause of death in people with HIV.
More information
The U.S. National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases
has more about
hepatitis C.