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Having hepatitis B doesn’t make someone’s HIV worse. But having HIV can make your hepatitis B more serious.
You can be more infectious for hepatitis B, be more likely
to become a carrier or suffer liver disease and treatments for hepatitis
B have a lower success rate.
While your liver is inflamed you might need to stop taking HIV drugs (or
use them with caution). This is because your liver processes these drugs.
If the liver’s inflamed it may be less good at processing the drugs
or there could be a bigger risk of the drugs causing liver-related side
effects.
You may be given a drug that can treat both HIV and hepatitis
B such as:
3TC (also
known as lamivudine or Epivir)
Tenofovir
(also known as Viread)
FTC (also
known as emtricitabone).
Your HIV doctor will advise you. To keep the hepatitis virus under control (or hopefully get rid of it for good) this medication may need to be taken for 1-2 years (maybe longer, possibly for life).
Vaccination against hepatitis B (and A) is recommended for people with HIV, especially if they have a low CD4 count. As the vaccine can make your HIV viral load go up (but only for a short time) it’s best to let your HIV doctor know if you get vaccinated. With HIV positive people the vaccine sometimes doesn’t work the first time and has to be given again.
You can be vaccinated for free by your GP, at your HIV clinic or sexual health clinic (link to clinic listings).
For more detailed information on having HIV and hepatitis B visit www.aidsmap.com (search under ‘patient information’ for ‘hepatitis B’).
Do you have a question about Hepatitis B that is not
answered on this website? Try www.britishlivertrust.org.uk
or www.hepb.org.uk
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