The prevalence of GB virus C (GBV-C) infection is high in human immunodeficiency virus (HIV)-infected persons. However, the long-term consequences of coinfection are unknown. HIV-positive persons with a well-defined duration of infection were screened on the basis of their GBV-C/hepatitis G virus (HGV) RNA status and studied. GBV-C/HGV viremia was observed in 23, who carried the virus over a mean of 7.7 years. All parameters (survival, CDC stage B/C, HIV RNA load, CD4 T cell count) showed significant differences in terms of the cumulative progression rate between persons positive and negative for GBV-C/HGV RNA. When GBV-C/HGV RNA-positive and -unexposed subjects were matched by age, sex, baseline HIV RNA load, and baseline CD4 T cell count, HIV disease progression appeared worse in GBV-C/HGV RNA-negative subjects. The carriage of GBV-C/HGV RNA is associated with a slower progression of HIV disease in coinfected persons.

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The pathological significance of HGV infection remains unelucidated, and the classification of HGV as a new hepatitis virus was perhaps premature.

To clarify the frequency and prognostic significance of a plasma human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) RNA load below the detection threshold during the natural history of infection, an ultrasensitive assay was used to identify persons with low virus loads in a cohort of 111 untreated subjects with a known date of seroconversion. Six persons had HIV RNA loads <40 viral copies (VC)/mL during the first years of HIV infection. The probability of meeting the criteria for long-term nonprogression was higher in these subjects (P=.043). However, a virus load <40 VC/mL was rare during the natural history of infection, even during the first years of symptomless HIV carriage. Such data confirm the general trend of disease progression in the entire population of HIV carriers.