Suchergebnisse

BACKGROUND AND AIMS: To reduce hepatitis C virus (HCV) transmission among people who inject drugs (PWID), Scottish Government-funded national strategies, launched in 2008, promoted scaling-up opioid substitution therapy (OST) and needle and syringe provision (NSP), with some increases in HCV treatment. We test whether observed decreases in HCV incidence post-2008 can be attributed to this intervention scale-up. DESIGN: A dynamic HCV transmission model amongst PWID incorporating intervention scale-up and observed decreases in behavioural risk, calibrated to Scottish HCV prevalence and incidence data for 2008/09. SETTING: Scotland, UK PARTICIPANTS: PWID MEASUREMENTS: Model projections from 2008–2015 were compared with data to test whether they were consistent with observed decreases in HCV incidence amongst PWID while incorporating the observed intervention scale-up, and to determine the impact of scaling-up interventions on incidence. FINDINGS: Without fitting to epidemiological data post-2008/09, the model incorporating observed intervention scale-up agreed with observed decreases in HCV incidence amongst PWID between 2008–2015, suggesting HCV incidence decreased by 61.3% (95% credibility interval 45.1–75.3%) from 14.2/100pyrs (9.0–20.7) to 5.5/100pyrs (2.9–9.2). On average, each model fit lay within 84% (10.1/12) of the confidence bounds for the 12 incidence data points which the model was compared against. We estimate that scale-up of interventions (OST+NSP+HCV treatment) and decreases in high-risk behaviour from 2008–2015 resulted in a 33.9% (23.8–44.6%) decrease in incidence, with the remainder (27.4% (17.6–37.0%)) explained by historical changes in OST+NSP coverage and risk pre-2008. Projections suggest scaling-up of all interventions post-2008 averted 1,492 (657–2,646) infections over 7-years, with 1,016 (308–1,996), 404 (150–836) and 72 (27–137) due to scale-up of OST+NSP, decreases in high-risk behaviour, and HCV treatment, respectively. CONCLUSIONS: Most of the decline in hepatitis C virus (HCV) ...

Background and Aims: To reduce hepatitis C virus (HCV) transmission among people who inject drugs (PWID), Scottish Government-funded national strategies, launched in 2008, promoted scaling-up opioid substitution therapy (OST) and needle and syringe provision (NSP), with some increases in HCV treatment. We test whether observed decreases in HCV incidence post-2008 can be attributed to this intervention scale-up. Design: A dynamic HCV transmission model among PWID incorporating intervention scale-up and observed decreases in behavioural risk, calibrated to Scottish HCV prevalence and incidence data for 2008/09. Setting: Scotland, UK. Participants: PWID. Measurements: Model projections from 2008 to 2015 were compared with data to test whether they were consistent with observed decreases in HCV incidence among PWID while incorporating the observed intervention scale-up, and to determine the impact of scaling-up interventions on incidence. Findings: Without fitting to epidemiological data post-2008/09, the model incorporating observed intervention scale-up agreed with observed decreases in HCV incidence among PWID between 2008 and 2015, suggesting that HCV incidence decreased by 61.3% [95% credibility interval (CrI) = 45.1–75.3%] from 14.2/100 person-years (py) (9.0–20.7) to 5.5/100 py (2.9–9.2). On average, each model fit lay within 84% (10.1/12) of the confidence bounds for the 12 incidence data points against which the model was compared. We estimate that scale-up of interventions (OST + NSP + HCV treatment) and decreases in high-risk behaviour from 2008 to 2015 resulted in a 33.9% (23.8–44.6%) decrease in incidence, with the remainder [27.4% (17.6–37.0%)] explained by historical changes in OST + NSP coverage and risk pre-2008. Projections suggest that scaling-up of all interventions post-2008 averted 1492 (657–2646) infections over 7 years, with 1016 (308–1996), 404 (150–836) and 72 (27–137) due to scale-up of OST + NSP, decreases in high-risk behaviour and HCV treatment, respectively. Conclusions: Most of the decline in hepatitis C virus (HCV) incidence in Scotland between 2008 and 2015 appears to be attributable to intervention scale-up (opioid substitution therapy and needle and syringe provision) due to government strategies on HCV and drugs.

Monitoring injecting drug users' (IDUs) health is challenging because IDUs form a difficult to reach population. We examined the impact of recruitment setting on hepatitis C prevalence. Individual datasets from 12 studies were merged. Predictors of HCV positivity were sought through a multilevel analysis using a mixed-effects logistic model, with study identifier as random intercept. HCV prevalence ranged from 21% to 86% across the studies. Overall, HCV prevalence was higher in IDUs recruited in drug treatment centres compared to those recruited in low-threshold settings (74% and 42%, respectively, P < 0·001). Recruitment setting remained significantly associated with HCV prevalence after adjustment for duration of injecting and recent injection (adjusted odds ratio 0·7, 95% confidence interval 0·6-0·8, P = 0·05). Recruitment setting may have an impact on HCV prevalence estimates of IDUs in Europe. Assessing the impact of mixed recruitment strategies, including respondent-driven sampling, on HCV prevalence estimates, would be valuable. ; This study contributes to the work of the 'European Study Group for Mathematical Modelling and Epidemiological Analysis of Drug-Related Infectious Diseases, coordinated by EMCDDA and RIVM with funding from WHO/Europe and the government of The Netherlands. ; Sí

Background: People who inject drugs (PWID) are a key population affected by hepatitis C virus (HCV). Treatment options are improving and may enhance prevention; however access for PWID may be poor. The availability in the literature of information on seven main topic areas (incidence, chronicity, genotypes, HIV co-infection, diagnosis and treatment uptake, and burden of disease) to guide HCV treatment and prevention scale-up for PWID in the 27 countries of the European Union is systematically reviewed. Methods and Findings: We searched MEDLINE, EMBASE and Cochrane Library for publications between 1 January 2000 and 31 December 2012, with a search strategy of general keywords regarding viral hepatitis, substance abuse and geographic scope, as well as topic-specific keywords. Additional articles were found through structured email consultations with a large European expert network. Data availability was highly variable and important limitations existed in comparability and representativeness. Nine of 27 countries had data on HCV incidence among PWID, which was often high (2.7-66/100 person-years, median 13, Interquartile range (IQR) 8.7–28). Most common HCV genotypes were G1 and G3; however, G4 may be increasing, while the proportion of traditionally 'difficult to treat' genotypes (G1+G4) showed large variation (median 53, IQR 43–62). Twelve countries reported on HCV chronicity (median 72, IQR 64–81) and 22 on HIV prevalence in HCV-infected PWID (median 3.9%, IQR 0.2–28). Undiagnosed infection, assessed in five countries, was high (median 49%, IQR 38–64), while of those diagnosed, the proportion entering treatment was low (median 9.5%, IQR 3.5–15). Burden of disease, where assessed, was high and will rise in the next decade. Conclusion: Key data on HCV epidemiology, care and disease burden among PWID in Europe are sparse but suggest many undiagnosed infections and poor treatment uptake. Stronger efforts are needed to improve data availability to guide an increase in HCV treatment among PWID.