EFFECT OF ALCOHOLISM ON HCV INFECTION
Researchers first became aware of the major effect of alcoholism on HCV infection when they noted that alcoholism was associated with HCV (but not hepatitis B) even in people who did not show classic risk factors, such as intravenous drug abuse or blood transfusions (Rosman et al. 1996; also see Schiff 1997). In addition to promoting the acquisition or persistence of HCV, alcohol subsequently was shown to affect the two major processes that are harbingers of rapid and severe progression of liver disease and of the patient's deterioration, namely inflammation and fibrosis.