Theme: Epidemiology and Public Health Research Year: 2021
Background: People who inject drugs (PWID) are a key population at risk for hepatitis C virus (HCV) infection. However, little is known about HCV incidence trends in PWID and whether DAAs are having an impact on halting transmission. Therefore, we aimed to assess HCV incidence trends within primary care clinics that offer general care and services specifically for people who inject drugs. Methods: We used linked data from individuals attending 13 primary care clinics, captured by the Australian Collaboration for Coordinated Enhanced Sentinel Surveillance between 2009 and 2019. Follow-up began on the date of first HCV-antibody negative result and ended on the date of incident infection or last recorded HCV-antibody negative. Infection date was the midpoint date between the last negative and first positive HCV-antibody or HCV RNA. A Poisson model calculated incidence trends. Results: A total of 5,978 individuals contributed 16,896 person-years (py) of follow-up and 212 incident infections. At the first HCV antibody test observed, median age was 30 years (interquartile range [IQR] 24-38). Median inter-test interval was 1.3 years (IQR 0.5-2.6). Median HCV seroconversion interval was 2.8 years (IQR 0.9-3.2). HCV incidence changed over calendar time (pvalue
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