New acute hepatitis C screening strategy for HIV-infected patients

"Acute HCV outbreaks have led to calls for ongoing screenings for HIV-infected individuals, but it has been unclear how best to implement this," says lead author Lynn E. Taylor, M.D., an HIV/AIDS physician at The Miriam Hospital. "Detecting HCV in the acute stage is important because antiviral therapy is much more effective in the acute phase than treatment in the chronic phase of HCV infection, especially for people living with HIV."