Interaction of hepatitis B and hepatitis C infection in haemophilia

Abstract
Summary. The management of haemophilia has been greatly complicated by the clinical sequelae of viral infection acquired through contaminated blood products. Many haemophiliacs have been infected by several viruses and the interaction between these viruses may be complex. In a cohort of 42 anti‐HCV positive haemophiliacs, five were also found to be positive for HBsAg. All five were HCV reverse transcriptase/PCR negative compared to the 4/37 (11%) anti‐HCV positive haemophiliacs who were HBsAg negative (P=0.0001). We have identified a striking interaction between hepatitis C (HCV) and hepatitis B (HBV) in haemophiliacs co‐infected by these agents, suggestive of the phenomenon of viral interference.