Background

Direct-acting antivirals (DAAs) are curative in most persons with chronic hepatitis C virus (HCV) infection. However, high cost and concerns about adherence and reinfection may present continued barriers to treatment, particularly for people who inject drugs (PWID).

Objective

To understand changes in assessments of treatment candidacy, given advances in treatment.

Methods

Clinicians attending the Liver Meeting® in 2014 who reported prescribing HCV treatment in the past three years were invited to complete a survey regarding HCV treatment decisions. Participants assessed their likelihood to treat HCV in PWID in association with time of abstinence from injection drug use and what impacts their decision to provide treatment using interferon and DAAs.

Results

108 clinicians completed the survey; 10% were willing to treat an active PWID (last injection within 30 days) using interferon-containing regimens, and 15% with all-oral regimens. For each increasing time interval of injection abstinence, there was an increase in the odds of a clinician reporting willingness to treat with DAAs (Odds Ratio (OR) 2.57, 95% CI 2.18, 3.03) and with interferon-based treatment (OR 2.22 (95% CI 1.90, 2.61), Reinfection and medication cost were cited as most important concerns when determining candidacy.

Conclusions

A cure is now the norm in HCV treatment, and there is an increasing need to address the barriers to treating PWID, the population with the highest burden of infection. Understanding treatment candidacy assessments is essential to improving uptake. This study provides insight into how clinicians view treatment candidacy in this era of DAAs and can help identify supportive treatment environments and concurrent programs.

Dramatic rises in injection drug use (IDU) in sub-Saharan Africa account for increasingly more infections in a region already overwhelmed by the HIV epidemic. There is no known estimate of the number of people who inject drugs (PWID) in the region, or the associated HIV prevalence in PWID. We reviewed literature with the goal of describing high-risk practices and exposures in PWID in sub-Saharan Africa, as well as current HIV prevention activities aimed at drug use. The literature search looked for articles related to HIV risk, injection drug users, stigma, and HIV testing in sub-Saharan Africa. This review found evidence demonstrating high rates of HIV in IDU populations in sub-Saharan Africa, high-risk behaviors of the populations, lack of knowledge regarding HIV, and low HIV testing uptake. There is an urgent need for action to address IDU in order to maintain recent decreases in the spread of HIV in sub-Saharan Africa.

Background

Direct-acting antivirals (DAAs) are curative in most persons with chronic hepatitis C virus (HCV) infection. However, high cost and concerns about adherence and reinfection may present continued barriers to treatment, particularly for people who inject drugs (PWID).

Objective

To understand changes in assessments of treatment candidacy, given advances in treatment.

Methods

Clinicians attending the Liver Meeting® in 2014 who reported prescribing HCV treatment in the past three years were invited to complete a survey regarding HCV treatment decisions. Participants assessed their likelihood to treat HCV in PWID in association with time of abstinence from injection drug use and what impacts their decision to provide treatment using interferon and DAAs.

Results

108 clinicians completed the survey; 10% were willing to treat an active PWID (last injection within 30 days) using interferon-containing regimens, and 15% with all-oral regimens. For each increasing time interval of injection abstinence, there was an increase in the odds of a clinician reporting willingness to treat with DAAs (Odds Ratio (OR) 2.57, 95% CI 2.18, 3.03) and with interferon-based treatment (OR 2.22 (95% CI 1.90, 2.61), Reinfection and medication cost were cited as most important concerns when determining candidacy.

Conclusions

A cure is now the norm in HCV treatment, and there is an increasing need to address the barriers to treating PWID, the population with the highest burden of infection. Understanding treatment candidacy assessments is essential to improving uptake. This study provides insight into how clinicians view treatment candidacy in this era of DAAs and can help identify supportive treatment environments and concurrent programs.

Abscess is a common source of morbidity for people who inject drugs. We used data from the Study to Assess Hepatitis C Risk to measure prevalence of abscess and identify factors associated with the history of abscess. Of 541 participants, 388 (72%) were male and 149 (28%) were female. Almost half (n = 258, 48%) reported ever having an abscess. Persons who inject drugs with an abscess history were significantly more likely to have more injection partners (p = .01), inject heroin daily (p < .05), and share cookers (p = .001) and less likely to report using new syringes with each injection (p = .02). Most reported self-treating their last abscess and increasing drug use when having an abscess. High-risk injection-related activity was associated not only with infections such as HIV and hepatitis C virus but also with abscess. Nurses should screen patients presenting with abscess for high-risk practices and provide prevention education.

Objective

HIV controllers demonstrate high rates of spontaneous clearance of hepatitis C virus (HCV) infection. The objective of this study was to evaluate the role of human leukocyte antigen (HLA) B*57 and other genetic polymorphisms on HCV clearance in HIV controllers.

Design

This is a prospective cohort study.

Methods

Patients in the Study of the Consequences of Protease Inhibitor Era (SCOPE) were tested for anti-HCV using enzyme immunoassay (EIA3) and HCV RNA using discriminatory HCV transcription-mediated amplification assay (Norvatis). We compared the proportion of HIV controllers and noncontrollers demonstrating HCV clearance and fitted multivariable Poisson regression models with robust standard errors to estimate adjusted prevalence ratios (APRs) and assessed genetic and immunologic predictors of HCV clearance.

Results

Of 279 HIV/HCV seropositive individuals, 48 were HIV controllers. HIV controllers compared to HIV noncontrollers, were significantly more likely to have HLA B*57 (33 vs. 10%, P < 0.01). In multivariate analyses, adjusting for HLAB57, IL28B genotype, age, sex and race/ethnicity, HCV clearance was significantly more likely in HIV controllers than HIV noncontrollers [APR 1.78; 95% confidence interval (CI) 1.06-3.0; P = 0.03]. HLA B*57 did not explain the increased proportion of HCV clearance in HIV controllers, but IL28B CC genotype was independently associated with spontaneous HCV clearance (APR 2.76; 95% CI 1.85-4.11; P < 0.001).

Conclusion

Although enriched in HIV controllers, HLA B*57 does not explain the increased HCV clearance. Further identification of host immunologic or genetic factors that contribute to control of HIV and HCV may support the development of novel treatments for and effective vaccines against both viruses.