Modelling the transmission dynamics of HIV/AIDS and hepatitis C virus co-infection

BackgroundApproximately 85% of the individuals infected with hepatitis C virus develop chronic infection. Hepatitis C virus and HIV/AIDS infections are common in some parts of the world, and due to their geographical overlap, co-infection cannot be ruled out as the two diseases have the same transmission route. The study of their joint dynamics is of public health interest.Material and MethodsWe formulate and analyse a deterministic model of the co-dynamics of hepatitis C virus and HIV/AIDS in order to assess their impact on the dynamics of each disease in the presence of treatment. Conditions under which the equilibria (disease-free and endemic) are locally and globally asymptotically stable are given.ResultsThrough simulations, we find that in the presence of treatment: (i) there are more HIV-only infected individuals not yet showing AIDS symptoms and (ii) the number of dually infected individuals first increases and then declines to asymptotically low level due to full recovery from hepatitis C.ConclusionHCV has an ongoing prolonged negative effect on the health of the population, irrespective of their HIV status, and as such, its control should be reinforced in resource limited settings.