No increased risk for COVID-19 related mortality associated with HCV alone
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Key takeaways:
- Mortality was increased in patients with HCV and cirrhosis, but not HCV alone.
- HCV also was associated with increased length of hospital stay.
BOSTON — In the absence of cirrhosis, no specific precautions are needed for patients with SARS-CoV-2 infection and a history of hepatitis C virus, according to findings presented at The Liver Meeting.
“It’s important to know how COVID interacts with chronic diseases and whether that increases the mortality,” Jose Debes, MD, PhD, MS, associate professor of medicine at University of Minnesota Medical School, told Healio.
Debes and Spencer Goble, MD, a resident physician at Hennepin County Medical Center, conducted a retrospective study using the National Inpatient Sample to identify 1,050,720 adult hospitalizations (mean age, 64.8 years; 47.3% women) with a primary diagnosis of SARS-CoV-2 infection in 2020. Of those, 8,040 (mean age, 62.1 years; 31.8% women) had a secondary diagnosis of HCV, although treatment data for these patients were not included in study.
According to results, in-hospital mortality was significantly increased only in HCV patients with cirrhosis (adjusted OR = 1.35; 95% CI, 1.01-1.79), not HCV infection alone. In addition, HCV infection was associated with increased length of hospital stay, but not hospital charges.
“To me, it’s a little bit surprising, at least biologically, patients with HCV can have what we call an exhausted immune system that has been working for years to fight the virus and that not impact your response to another virus,” Debes said.
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Goble S, et al. Hepatitis C virus infection and COVID-19 inpatient mortality. Presented at: The Liver Meeting; Nov. 10-14, 2023; Boston (hybrid meeting).
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