Hepatitis Delta Virus Coinfection: A Major Cause of Hepatic Decompensation and Death Among HIV-Infected Patients

Hepatitis delta virus (HDV) is a small RNA virus that replicates only in the presence of hepatitis B virus (HBV) infection. Because HDV is transmitted in the same ways as HBV, HDV infection is not rare among HIV/HBV-coinfected individuals. To assess the effects of hepatitis virus coinfections on liver-related outcomes among HIV-infected individuals, investigators in Spain retrospectively analyzed data from a cohort of 1147 patients (81% male; mean age, 42; 46% injection-drug users; 85% on antiretroviral therapy) who had been followed since 2004 at an HIV clinic in Madrid.

At study entry, 45% of participants were hepatitis C virus (HCV)-antibody positive, 7% were HBsAg positive, and 1.5% were HDV-antibody positive. Of 521 HCV-coinfected patie…