Incidence and Risk Factors of Reinfection with HCV after Treatment in People Living with HIV

• Published in: Viruses Vol. 14; no. 2; p. 439
• Main Authors: Cheng, Chien-Yu, Ku, Shin-Yen, Lin, Yi-Chun, Chen, Cheng-Pin, Cheng, Shu-Hsing, Lin, I-Feng
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Switzerland MDPI AG 21.02.2022; MDPI
• Subjects: Addictive behaviors; Adult; amphetamine abuse; Amphetamines; Antiviral agents; Antiviral Agents - therapeutic use; Behavior; Cirrhosis; Counseling; Drug abuse; Drug Users; Female; Genotype & phenotype; Hepatitis C; Hepatitis C, Chronic - complications; Hepatitis C, Chronic - drug therapy; Heroin; heroin dependency; HIV; HIV Infections - complications; HIV Infections - epidemiology; Homosexuality, Male; Human immunodeficiency virus; Humans; Immunology; Incidence; Infections; Kaplan-Meier Estimate; Liver cirrhosis; Lymphocytes; Male; men who have sex with men (MSM); Middle Aged; Patients; people living with HIV (PLWH); people who inject drugs (PWID); Population; Proportional Hazards Models; Recurrence; Reinfection - epidemiology; reinfection with HCV; Retrospective Studies; Risk Factors; Substance abuse treatment; Sustained Virologic Response; Taiwan; Taiwan; Germany; amphetamine abuse; reinfection with HCV; heroin dependency; men who have sex with men (MSM); people living with HIV (PLWH); people who inject drugs (PWID)
• ISSN: 1999-4915; 1999-4915
• DOI: 10.3390/v14020439

Infection with hepatitis C virus (HCV) does not induce protective immunity, and re-exposure to HCV can reinfect the population engaging in high-risk behavior. An increasing incidence of acute hepatitis C infection in people living with HIV (PLWH) has been described in recent years. This retrospective cohort study was conducted in PLWH who completed HCV therapy between June 2009 and June 2020 at an HIV care hospital, to analyze their basic characteristics and risky behavior. Of 2419 patients, 639 were diagnosed with HCV infection and 516 completed the HCV therapy with a sustained virologic response. In total, 59 patients (11.4%) were reinfected with acute hepatitis C, and the median time to reinfection was 85.3 weeks (IQR: 57-150). The incidence of reinfection was 6.7 cases/100 person-years. The factors associated with reinfection were being male (AHR, 8.02; 95% CI 1.08-59.49), DAA (direct-acting antiviral) treatment (AHR, 2.23; 95% CI 1.04-4.79), liver cirrhosis (AHR, 3.94; 95% CI 1.09-14.22), heroin dependency (AHR: 7.41; 95% CI 3.37-14.3), and HIV viral loads <50 copies/mL at the follow-up (AHR: 0.47, 95% CI 0.24-0.93) in the subgroup of people who inject drugs (PWID). Amphetamine abuse (AHR: 20.17; 95% CI 2.36-172.52) was the dominant factor in the subgroup of men who have sex with men (MSM). Our study suggests that education and behavioral interventions are needed in this population to prevent reinfection.