Seroepidemiology of HCV-HIV coinfection in Tunisia.

AIM: To determine the prevalence of antibodies to hepatitis C virus (HCV) in a cohort of patients infected with human immunodeficiency virus 1 (HIV-1) and to compare risk factors. METHODS: Multicenter retrospective study from infectious diseases department in Tunisia. We examined sera from HIV patients followed in these centers. Diagnosis of HCV infection was based on third generation enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) test. RESULTS: 362 HIV-1 patients were included in the study. The mean age was 35,5 years. 272 patients (75.13%) were male. Sexual transmission of HIV was the main risk factor (56.3%). 144 patients (39.7%) had antibodies against HCV, mainly in patients with history of intravenous drug abuse (78.4%). Quantitative evaluation of hepatitis C virus RNA was done only in 3 patients. CONCLUSION: HCV-HIV coinfection in tunisian patients occurs frequently, due to the same ways of transmission. More studies are needed to focus on sexual transmission of hepatitis C virus in order to prevent such infections rather than interferon-based therapies.

[Effect of triple antiretroviral therapy on Tunisian AIDS profile: study of 139 cases]. / Impact de la trithérapie anti-retrovirale sur le profil evolutif du sideen Tunisien: etude de 139 cas.

We report a retrospective study to estimate highly active antiretroviral therapy (HAART) effect in 139 HIV infected patients. Four criteria are studied: prevalence of opportunistic infections, CD4 cell count evolution, viral load progression and mortality. Gastrointestinal side effects are the most common clinical adverse reaction (61.1 percent), and hematological side effects are the most common biological adverse reaction (61.2 percent). During the 22.8 months (3 months to 6 years) follow-up average period, CD4 cell counts remained above 500 per cubic millimeter in only 25.8 percent of cases, while 63.5 percent of patients had a viral load below 400 copies per milliliter. During the study on patients receiving HAART, opportunistic infections appeared in 17.3 percent of cases (24 cases) and mortality in 6.4 percent of cases.