Caratteristiche di una coorte di pazienti con co-infezione HIV/HCV: i dati dell’Ambulatorio di Malattie Infettive dell’Ospedale San Gerardo di Monza

Last epidemiological data show a decreasing trend of HCV infection prevalence in the general population; these data seem to be confirmed also in ICONA of HIV-positive patients. However, it is well known that prevalence data present many, and sometimes important, fluctuations depending on local epidemiology. We studied HCV infection characteristics in our 1974 HIV-positive patients cohort. The HIV/HCV co-infection prevalence was 19% (371 patients); 79% (294) of them were male sex; nationality was Italian in 94% (248) of patients; principal risk factor resulted to be intravenous drug use (IVDU) (162, 44%); average age was 52.8 years (standard deviation 8.6). 65% (241) of patients had detectable HCV-RNA at diagnosis, while, considering 262 patients who are still actively followed, 92% (240) of them have reached sustained virologic response (SVR). The high prevalence of eradication in our setting of HIV/ HCV co-infected patients could suggest micro-elimination as a possible solving approach to eradicate HCV infection. However, retention in care continues to be an important challenge and a scope for improvement of HIV-positive and HIV/HCV co-infected patient management.