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About hepatitis

About hepatitis

Hepatitis means inflammation of the liver. This can be caused by a range of factors, including your lifestyle – drinking alcohol can cause it, for example. Several viruses can also cause hepatitis. Here we cover the viruses hepatitis A, B and C.

The liver is the largest internal organ in your body. Having a healthy liver is important for everybody, but it is especially important for people with HIV.

Your liver has an essential role in processing medicines used to treat HIV and other conditions. Viral infections that affect the liver, such as hepatitis A, B and C, can make you ill and also mean that the liver is unable to process medicines properly.

When people have both HIV and hepatitis B, this is often described as co-infection. If left untreated, liver disease caused by hepatitis B or C can be very serious. It is a major cause of illness and death in people co-infected with HIV and hepatitis B or C.

But there are treatments, and these can work well in people with HIV. You can read more about diagnosis, symptoms and treatment of different types of viral hepatitis here.

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