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MedicalResearch.com Interview with: Naveed Zafar Janjua, MBBS, MSc, DrPH, Senior Scientist, Clinical Prevention Services BC Centre for Disease Control Clinical Associate Professor, School of Population and Public Health, University of British Columbia
MedicalResearch.com: What is the background for this study?
Response: Hepatitis C is a viral infection that affects the liver. About quarter of people infected with hepatitis C clear their infection spontaneously rest develop chronic infection. Left untreated, hepatitis C could results in scarring of liver (liver cirrhosis), liver cancer or death. New anti-viral drugs are highly effective in curing hepatitis C, about than 95 per cent of those treated can be cured. However, people who engage in high risk activities such as people who inject drugs (PWID) remain at risk of reinfection. As the cost of treatment is very high, re-infection is a concern among physicians and policy makers in Canada and around the world.
MedicalResearch.com: What are the main findings?
Response: The Hepatitis Team at the BC Centre for Disease Control (BCCDC), using its landmark cohort, BC Hepatitis Testers Cohort (BC-HTC), conducted a study to assess the role of various interventions in preventing hepatitis C reinfection among PWID. In the largest study in the World on hepatitis C reinfection, we monitored reinfection among 5,915 cases of hepatitis C who cleared their first infection either spontaneously or after successful anti-viral therapy. People were followed up for a median of 5.4 years. Of 5915 individuals who cleared their primary infection, 452 (8%) developed reinfection.
People who cleared their infection spontaneously without treatment, those co-infected with HIV, and injection drug users had higher risk of reinfection.
Among cases with a history of current injection drug use, opioid substitution therapy reduces risk of reinfection by 27% while engagement with mental health counsellng services was associated with a 29% lower risk of reinfection.