Decline in Hepatitis C Virus (HCV) Incidence in Men Who Have Sex With Men Living With Human Immunodeficiency Virus: Progress to HCV Microelimination in the United Kingdom?
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Published version
Author(s)
Type
Journal Article
Abstract
BACKGROUND: Modeling of the London hepatitis C virus (HCV) epidemic in men who have sex with men (MSM) and are living with human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) suggested that early access to direct-acting antiviral (DAA) treatment may reduce incidence. With high rates of linkage to care, microelimination of HCV within MSM living with HIV may be realistic ahead of 2030 World Health Organization targets. We examined trends in HCV incidence in the pre- and post-DAA eras for MSM living with HIV in London and Brighton, United Kingdom. METHODS: A retrospective cohort study was conducted at 5 HIV clinics in London and Brighton between 2013 and 2018. Each site reported all acute HCV episodes during the study period. Treatment timing data were collected. Incidence rates and reinfection proportion were calculated. RESULTS: A total of. 378 acute HCV infections were identified, comprising 292 first infections and 86 reinfections. Incidence rates of acute HCV in MSM living with HIV peaked at 14.57/1000 person-years of follow-up (PYFU; 95% confidence interval [CI], 10.95-18.20) in 2015. Rates fell to 4.63/1000 PYFU (95% CI, 2.60 to 6.67) by 2018. Time from diagnosis to starting treatment declined from 29.8 (2013) to 3.7 months (2018). CONCLUSIONS: We observed a 78% reduction in the incidence of first HCV episode and a 68% reduction in overall HCV incidence since the epidemic peak in 2015, which coincides with wider access to DAAs in England. Further interventions to reduce transmission, including earlier access to treatment and for reinfection, are likely needed for microelimination to be achieved in this population.
Date Issued
2021-01-15
Date Acceptance
2020-01-01
Citation
Clinical Infectious Diseases, 2021, 72 (2), pp.233-238
ISSN
1058-4838
Publisher
Oxford University Press (OUP)
Start Page
233
End Page
238
Journal / Book Title
Clinical Infectious Diseases
Volume
72
Issue
2
Copyright Statement
© The Author(s) 2020. Published by Oxford University Press for the Infectious Diseases Society of America. This is an Open Access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivs licence (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/), which permits non-commercial reproduction and distribution of the work, in any medium, provided the original work is not altered or transformed in any way, and that the work is properly cited. For commercial re-use, please contact journals.permissions@oup.com
Sponsor
National Institute for Health Research
National Institute for Health Research
Identifier
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/32211763
PII: 5811003
Grant Number
EME/14/02/17
RP-2016-07-012
Subjects
HIV
directly acting antivirals
hepatitis C
microelimination
Publication Status
Published
Coverage Spatial
United States
Date Publish Online
2020-03-25