HIV & Hepatitis C: Coping with Coinfection (Part 1) -The Spring 2010 issue of "mental health AIDS" [online] Date: 04/2010
Note: There are an estimated 250,000 people living in the United States with HIV/hepatitis C (HCV) coinfection, yet less than a third of these individuals "are deemed eligible for HCV treatment, and under 10% actually receive treatment.." "Without HCV treatment, increasing numbers of HIV-infected patients will die either from end-stage liver disease or from HIV-related complications resulting from the inability to use antiretroviral agents" because of liver damage.
This is the first of a two-part series. Part 1 provides a medical, psychiatric, psychosocial, and neuropsychological overview of HIV/HCV coinfection, the process of determining eligibility for HCV treatment, and the important role mental health clinicians play in assessing eligibility and intervening with clients who elect to receive treatment for HCV.
|