December 3rd: Hepatitis C And HIV Coinfection

Alpha Drugs invites you to attend their Survival Forum VII: Hepatitis C and HIV Coinfection: Current Issues and Challenges to Treating HIV presented by Dr. Michael Pistole, Private Practice HIV/HCV Specialist.

Thursday December 3rd at the Hotel Palomar (The Phillips Ballroom) - 2121 P Street, NW DC. (202)448-1800. (1/2 block from the Dupont Circle Metro).

Free Admission/Dinner Served
Registration: 6:30 PM to 7:00 PM
Dinner/Lecture: 7:00 PM to 8:30 PM

Sponsored by Alpha Drugs and DC Community AIDS Network (DC CAN) 1638 R Street, NW, Suite 230, Washington, DC 200009.

RSVP AND INFORMATION CONTACT: leigh@alphadrugs.com - (202)265-5757

Alpha Drugs Hosts Forum on Hepatitis C

The DC Center and Alpha Drugs invite you to attend Survival Forum V: "Hepatitis C in the Nation's Capital: Hepatitis C and HIV Coinfection- Managing Drug Side Effects to Improve Patient Outcomes", on Wednesday, November 19th, in the Philips Ballroom of the Hotel Palomar, 2121 P St. NW, Washington.

The lecture will be presented by Michael Pistole, M.D., an HCV/HIV specialist.

Admission is free, and a free dinner will be served. Registration is from 6.30 to 7.30 PM, and dinner and the lecture are from 7.30 to 9.00 PM.

To RSVP and for information, contact leigh@alphadrugs.com.

ACTION Lunch Forum on HIV, Hep C, & African Americans

Today we had the 5th ACTION (AIDS Clinical Trials Information & Orientation) Lunch event. These free, informational lunch events are held the second Thursday of each month at the DC CARE Consortium.

Monica Lattimore-Mcleod PA-C (pictured left) gave a presentation on HIV, Heptatis C, and African Americans.

The hepatitis C virus is transmitted through infected blood. Hepatitis C spreads easily when drug users share equipment. It can also be spread through sexual activity. A small percentage of people clear the Hep C virus with no problems. Most folks will develop a chronic infection, which left untreated can cause serious liver damage and even liver failure and death. While there is a vaccine to prevent the spread of Hep A, and Hep B, there is no vaccine to prevent the spread of Hepatitis C.

About 30% of folks in the United States folks living with HIV are also infected with Hep C. We don't know the exact percentage in DC, but I personally believe it's a lot higher than 30%. If you'd like to learn more about this topic, I encourage you to start right here at www.thebody.com.

Be sure to join us for the ACTION lunch next month, details are right here.

Oh, and pictures from todays event are available on the Flickr Fight HIV in DC Photo Stream.