No-cost HCV treatment trial reduces community viral load in rural Kentucky county
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Key takeaways:
- The Kentucky Viral Hepatitis Treatment project reduced the proportion of HCV viremic individuals in a rural Appalachian county.
- The results were consistent after adjusting for age, gender and PWID status.
BOSTON — A treatment trial that recruited individuals chronically infected with hepatitis C virus and provided no-cost medical care helped reduce the proportion of viremic individuals in a rural Appalachian county, data showed.
Jennifer Havens, PhD, an infectious disease epidemiologist and professor at the University of Kentucky, and colleagues sought to determine the efficacy of the Kentucky Viral Hepatitis Treatment project by investigating the proportion of viremic individuals screened and enrolled in the program from 2019 to 2023. The intervention included treatment with sobosbuvir/velpatasvir, which was provided free of charge.
According to results presented at The Liver Meeting, the study included 748 individuals, of whom 76.9% were HCV-antibody positive; of these, 64.9% were viremic. However, the researchers noted a significant decrease in the proportion of viremic individuals over time (P < .001).
A multivariable model also showed significantly lower odds of being viremic at all follow-up periods compared with the first 6 months of recruitment, which was before the COVID-19 pandemic. Moreover, in the final 6 months of recruitment, which was from October 2022 to March 2023, the odds were 69% lower compared with the first 6 months.
Further, women were 39% less likely to be viremic at screening compared with men, according to results. However, the presence of a chronic infection was not found to be associated with age or status as a person who injects drugs.
Researchers noted that as the number of cured individuals increased in the county, the community viral load of HCV also significantly decreased. They suggest that those at greatest risk for HCV viral transmission need continued treatment to eliminate HCV from this high-risk community.
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Havens J, et al. Marching towards elimination: reductions in community viral load in a rural Appalachian county with an ongoing HCV treatment trial. Presented at: The Liver Meeting; Nov. 10-14, 2023; Boston (hybrid meeting).
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