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Glossary

Selected words and phrases

HCV – hepatitis C, a virus that causes liver disease.

Guide to HIV and hepatitis C coinfection.

somnolence – feeling sleepy or drowsy, especially during the day.

haemoglobin – substance in red blood cells that carries oxygen.

macrophage – large white blood cell that engulfs or ‘eats’ infectious organisms and waste material from dead cells.

CCR5 inhibitor – type of HIV drug (an entry inhibitor) that blocks HIV from getting into a CD4 cell. CCR5 is a co-receptor on the surface of a CD4 cell that HIV uses to attach itself to the cell. CCR5 inhibitors block that process. Maraviroc is currently the only approved CCR5 inhibitor.

Drug targets in the virus life cycle.