YOU ARE HERE:
Editorial: Sex, HIV and hepatitis C
| Last updated: 27.10.04 |
Although globally at least 170 million people are chronically infected with the hepatitis C virus (HCV), conservative estimates put the number in the UK at 0.33% of the general population, or 200,000, which is three-and-a-half times the number of people in the UK known be to infected with HIV.
The prevalence of HCV is highest in injection drug users, but it is also increasing in HIV-positive men who have sex with men (MSM). At the largest HIV centre in the UK, the Chelsea and Westminster Hospital in London, the prevalence of HIV and HCV co-infection is around seven percent; many of these are MSM who have been infected with HCV sexually.
The continuing outbreak of sexually transmitted hepatitis C infections in MSM in London and Brighton is a concern, because the exact route of transmission is still not yet known, and clear guidelines for the reduction of HCV sexual risk have not been drawn up.
Until then, there is information in this month’s lead article on how to protect yourself, as well as the latest news on how to treat HIV/HCV co-infection.