Mortality is not increased in SARS‐CoV‐2 infected persons with hepatitis C virus infection

Background Impact of SARS‐CoV‐2 infection upon hospitalization, intensive care unit (ICU) admissions and mortality in persons with hepatitis C virus (HCV) infection is unknown. Methods We used the Electronically Retrieved Cohort of HCV infected Veterans (ERCHIVES) database to determine the impact of HCV infection upon the rates of acute care hospitalization, ICU admission and all‐cause mortality. We identified Veterans with chronic HCV infection and propensity score matched controls without HCV in ERCHIVES. We excluded those with HIV or hepatitis B virus coinfection. Results We identified 975 HCV+ and 975 propensity score matched HCV− persons with SARS‐CoV‐2 infection. Mean FIB‐4 score (±SD) was higher in those with HCV (1.9 ± 2.1 vs 1.2 ± 0.9; P