Hepatitis C virus infection in vulnerable populations: a seroprevalence study of homeless, people who inject drugs and prisoners in London, UK

Injecting drugs substantially increases the risk of hepatitis C virus (HCV) infection and is common in homeless people and prisoners. Capturing accurate data on disease prevalence within these groups is challenging, and this problem hinders efforts to develop targeted strategies to reduce HCV transm...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:The Lancet (British edition) 2017-11, Vol.390, p.S18-S18
Main Authors: Aisyah, Dewi Nur, Shallcross, Laura, Hayward, Andrew, Aldridge, Robert W, Hemming, Sara, Yates, Susan, Ferenando, Gloria, Possas, Lucia, Garber, Elizabeth, Watson, John M, Geretti, Anna Maria, McHugh, Timothy D, Lipman, Marc, Story, Alistair
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
At risk populations
Deoxyribonucleic acid
DNA
Hepatitis C
Homeless people
Homelessness
Population studies
Prisoners
Serology
Viruses
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Summary:Injecting drugs substantially increases the risk of hepatitis C virus (HCV) infection and is common in homeless people and prisoners. Capturing accurate data on disease prevalence within these groups is challenging, and this problem hinders efforts to develop targeted strategies to reduce HCV transmission. The aim of this study was to estimate the prevalence of HCV in these vulnerable populations. We conducted a cross-sectional study between May 1, 2011, and June 30, 2013, in London, UK. Using the National Health Service Find and Treat service, we recruited participants from 39 hostels for the homeless, 20 drug treatment services, and a prison. Inclusion criteria were age over 18 years, capacity to consent, and being identified as homeless (living in a homeless hotel), having a history of drug use (using services at drug treatment centres), or being a prisoner at the time of the study. A questionnaire was administered and blood samples were collected to be tested for HCV. We recruited 1207 individuals, of whom 491 were homeless (40·7%), 205 were drug users (17·0%), and 511 were prisoners (42·3%). 98 (8·1%) of the 1207 participants had active HCV infection and 38 (3·1%) had a previous HCV infection. Among HCV-positive individuals, 77 (56·6%) had a history all three risk factors (homelessness, imprisonment, and drug use), 37 (27·3%) had two risk factors, and 22 (15·4%) had one risk factor. Multivariate logistic regression identified three factors associated with increased risk of HCV infection: duration of injecting (odds ratio for
ISSN:0140-6736
1474-547X
DOI:10.1016/S0140-6736(17)32953-7