Abstract
Introduction: Hepatitis C (HCV) infection in England primarily affects people who inject drugs (PWID). We describe persons HCV tested, estimate incidence and establish the cascade of care (CoC) for people engaging with drug services. Methods: Persons testing for HCV in drug services in Sentinel Surveillance of Blood Borne Virus Testing (SSBBV) between 2008 and 2016 were linked with people attending drug services in the National Drug and Treatment Monitoring System (NDTMS). We describe risk characteristics, establish the CoC, and estimate HCV incidence in PWID diagnosed in drug services. Results: Of 46,721 persons tested for anti-HCV in SSBBV in drug services, 29,773 (63.7%) linked to NDTMS. Of these, 9100 (30.6%) were antiV positive and anti-HCV positivity was 45.0% in persons reporting urgent housing problems and 43.8% in persons reporting ever injecting. Among persons anti-HCV positive, half had ≥1 positive anti-HCV test. For persons’ first anti-HCV positive between 2008 and 2013 (n = 3123), 74.9% were HCV RNA tested, of whom 71.2% were RNA positive, and of these, 14.0% had evidence of interferon-based treatment, with 52.8% achieving cure. Among PWID, HCV incidence was 8.7 per 100 person-years (95% CI: 8.1–9.2). Conclusion: Through record linkage of surveillance datasets, we estimated the HCV CoC for people attending drug services, providing a benchmark from which to monitor the impact of strategies to scale-up prevention, testing, and curative treatment with direct acting antivirals. Our study highlights wasteful repeated testing and poor linkage to care for this high risk population which need to be addressed.
| Original language | English |
|---|---|
| Pages (from-to) | 55-60 |
| Number of pages | 6 |
| Journal | International Journal of Drug Policy |
| Volume | 72 |
| DOIs | |
| Publication status | Published - Oct 2019 |
Bibliographical note
Funding Information:This report is independent research by the National Institute for Health Research. The research was funded by the National Institute for Health Research Health Protection Research Unit (NIHR HPRU) in Blood Borne and Sexually Transmitted Infections at UCL in partnership with Public Health England (PHE) and in collaboration with the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine. The views expressed in this publication are those of the authors and not necessarily those of the NHS, the National Institute for Health Research, the Department of Health or Public Health England. We thank the NIHR HPRU in Blood Borne and Sexually Transmitted Infections Steering Committee: Caroline Sabin (Director), Anthony Nardone (PHE Lead), Catherine Mercer, Gwenda Hughes, Jackie Cassell, Greta Rait, Samreen Ijaz, Tim Rhodes, Kholoud Porter, Sema Mandal and William Rosenberg. NIHR HPRU in Evaluation of Interventions at the University of Bristol in partnership with Public Health England. We are grateful for the invaluable contribution of our colleague and friend, the late Sam Lattimore.
Funding Information:
This report is independent research by the National Institute for Health Research. The research was funded by the National Institute for Health Research Health Protection Research Unit (NIHR HPRU) in Blood Borne and Sexually Transmitted Infections at UCL in partnership with Public Health England (PHE) and in collaboration with the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine . The views expressed in this publication are those of the authors and not necessarily those of the NHS, the National Institute for Health Research, the Department of Health or Public Health England.
Publisher Copyright:
© 2019 Elsevier B.V.
Keywords
- Cascade of care
- Hepatitis C
- People who inject drugs
- Treatment
