Prompt hepatitis C virus suppression following hepatitis B virus superinfection in chronic untreated hepatitis C.

The natural course of chronic hepatitis C virus infection after hepatitis B virus superinfection is not clear since it is difficult to determine the chronology of the double infections. We report on a case of de novo hepatitis B virus infection in the course of chronic untreated hepatitis C, in which the time of hepatitis B virus infection is actually known. The patient eliminated HCV-RNA, both from serum and from liver tissue, soon after the clinical onset of the acute hepatitis B. Liver histology featured hepatitis with severe portal inflammation and high-grade periportal and intralobular necro-inflammatory lesions. This observation demonstrates that hepatitis C virus replication can be promptly and spontaneously suppressed by acute hepatitis B virus superinfection.