Infectious Diseases

Answer 6 Patients with HCV and a coexisting HGV/GBV-C infection have a clinically more severe course of illness than those with HCV alone. HGV and GBV-C have a greater than 95% global sequence and amino acid homology.5 HGV/GBV-C is a single-stranded, positive-sense RNA virus and is considered a new genus within the Flaviviridae family. Studies have consistently shown the lack of influence of HGV/GBV-C on the clinical, biochemical, histologic, and virologic course of coexistent HCV infection.5 Unexpectedly, several studies have shown that HIV-infected patients who are coinfected with HGV/GBV-C fare better in terms of overall survival, interval to development of AIDS, and duration of survival after the onset of AIDS.5 The exact mechanism for this phenomenon remains unclear. REFERENCE 5. Mandell G, Bennett J, Dolin R, editors. Principles and practices of infectious diseases. 6th ed. Philadelphia: Elsevier; 2005. Click here to return to the questions

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