Prevalence of HCV among people who inject drugs in Brussels – A Respondent Driven Sampling Survey

Baelen, Luk Van; Plettinckx, Els; Antoine, Jérôme; Gremeaux, Lies

doi:10.21203/rs.2.19102/v2

Cited by 3 publications

(5 citation statements)

References 15 publications

Supporting

Mentioning

Contrasting

Order By: Relevance

“…The HCV Ab prevalence in our cohort (14.8%) was many times higher than in the general Belgian population (0.12%) [5]. If we only focus on the PWID in our population, the prevalence is comparable to a Belgian study in PWID and high-risk opiate users (39.2% vs.41.1%) [10]. Looking at the entire screened cohort, 6% were not aware of potential exposure to HCV infection.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 45%

“…In this study, an estimated HCV Ab prevalence of 30% was used. This is less than the estimated prevalence of HCV Ab in PWID [10,11], but we chose this conservative estimate, as we also included non-PWID. With a confidence interval (CI) of 95%, z is 1.96.…”

Section: Sample Sizementioning

confidence: 99%

“…9 Centre for Health Economic Research and Modelling Infectious Diseases, Vaccine and Infectious Disease Institute, University of Antwerp, Antwerp, Belgium. 10 Department of Public Health and Primary Care, KU Leuven, Leuven, Belgium. 11 Department of Gastroenterology and Hepatology, University Hospitals KU Leuven, Leuven, Belgium.…”

Section: Supplementary Informationmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…In Ireland and Madrid (Spain), 50% and 33% of the PWUD were exposed to an HCV infection [8,9]. A recent study estimated the HCV antibody (Ab) prevalence in Belgian people injecting drugs (PWID), a subpopulation of PWUD, at 41.1% [10]. However, no data on HCV Ab prevalence in the more general PWUD population are available for Belgium [11].…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

See 3 more Smart Citations

Identification and treatment of viral hepatitis C in persons who use drugs: a prospective, multicenter outreach study in Flanders, Belgium

et al. 2021

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Background Targeted screening for hepatitis C viral (HCV) infection is not yet widely executed in Belgium. When performed in people who use drugs (PWUD), it is mainly focused on those receiving opiate agonist therapy (OAT). We wanted to reach out to a population of difficult to reach PWUD not on centralized OAT, using non-invasive screening as a bridge to re-integration in medical care supported by facilitated referral to a specialist. Methods This was a prospective, multicenter cohort study in PWUD not enrolled in a centralized OAT program in a community-based facility in Limburg or OAT program in a community-based facility in Antwerp, Belgium, from October 2018 until October 2019. Two study teams recruited participants using an outreach method at 18 different locations. Participants were tested for HCV antibodies (Ab) by finger prick, and risk factors were assessed through a face-to-face questionnaire. Univariate analyses were used to assess the association between HCV Ab and each risk factor separately. A generalized linear mixed model was used to investigate the association between the different risk factors and HCV. Results In total, 425 PWUD were reached with a mean age of 41.6 ± 10.8, and 78.8% (335/425) were men. HCV Ab prevalence was 14.8% (63/425). Fifty-six (88.9%) PWUD were referred, of whom 37 (66.1%) were linked to care and tested for HCV RNA. Twenty-nine (78.4%) had a chronic HCV infection. Treatment was initiated in 17 (58.6%) patients. The adjusted odds for HCV Ab were highest in those with unstable housing 6 months before inclusion (p < .001, AOR 8.2 CI 95% 3.2–23.3) and in those who had ever shared paraphernalia for intravenous drug use (p < .001, AOR 6.2 CI 95% 2.5–16.0). Conclusions An important part tested positive for HCV. Treatment could be started in more than half of the chronically infected referred and tested positive for HCV-RNA. Micro-elimination is necessary to achieve the World Health Organization goals by 2030. However, it remains crucial to screen and link a broader group of PWUD to care than to focus solely on those who inject drugs. Trial registration: clinicaltrials.gov NCT04363411, Registered 27 April 2020—Retrospectively registered. https://clinicaltrials.gov/ct2/show/NCT04363411?term=NCT04363411&draw=2&rank=1

show abstract

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 45%

Section: Sample Sizementioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Supplementary Informationmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

See 2 more Smart Citations

Identification and treatment of viral hepatitis C in persons who use drugs: a prospective, multicenter outreach study in Flanders, Belgium

et al. 2021

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

show abstract

“…However, subgroups with higher HCV prevalence exist, and people who inject drugs (PWID) are the most important [8]. A recent study estimated the HCV Ab prevalence in Belgian PWID at 41.1% similar to data found in France (43.4%), the Netherlands (39.3%), and the UK (49.1%) [4,9,10].…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 87%

Hepatitis C reinfection in former and active injecting drug users in Belgium

et al. 2021

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Background There is currently no systematic screening for hepatitis C (HCV) reinfection in people who inject drugs (PWID) after treatment in Belgium. However, in a recent meta-analysis, the overall HCV reinfection rate was 5.9/100 person-years (PY) among PWID. Accordingly, this study was undertaken to investigate the reinfection rate in former and active PWID who achieved the end of treatment response after direct-acting antiviral (DAA) treatment in Belgium. Methods This observational cross-sectional study recruited individuals with a history of injecting drug use who had achieved the end of treatment response to any DAA treatment between 2015 and 2020. Participants were offered a post-treatment HCV RNA test. Results Eighty-five potential participants were eligible to participate and contacted, of whom 60 participants were enrolled in the study with a median age of 51.0 (IQR 44.3–56.0) years; it was reported that 23.3% continued to inject drugs intravenously after DAA treatment. Liver cirrhosis was present in 12.9%. The majority had genotype 1a (51.7%) or genotype 3 (15.0%) infection. We detected no reinfections in this study population. The total time patients were followed up for reinfection in the study was 78.5 PY (median 1.0 years IQR 0.4–2.0). Conclusion Reinfection after successful treatment with DAA initially appears to be very low in Belgian PWID. Therefore, efforts should be made to screen individuals with persistent risk behaviors for reinfection systematically. In addition, a national HCV registry should be established to accurately define the burden of HCV infection and reinfection in Belgium and support the elimination of viral hepatitis C in Europe. Trial registration clinicaltrials.gov NCT04251572, Registered 5 Feb 2020–Retrospectively registered, https://clinicaltrials.gov/ct2/show/NCT04251572.

show abstract

Snowball Sampling vs. Respondent Driven Sampling in Regional Research. Comparing the use of the Methods to Study Migrants Working in Elderly Care

Kubiciel‐Lodzińska¹

2021

Stud. Migr. Prz. Pol.

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

The aim of the article is to compare the effectiveness of the snowball sampling and Respondent Driven Sampling (RDS) for research on migrants working in elderly care. Analyses are based on results of in-depth semi-structured individual interviews conducted among 42 migrants working as caregivers in the Opole region (Poland). This group can be considered as a “hidden population” because, due to the work they provide in the household, frequently illegally, they often demonstrate a strong desire to remain invisible. The methods were compared in terms of: (1) duration of the survey, (2) diversity of the sample, (3) difficulty in applying both sampling methods. In the conducted survey, snowball sampling made it possible to find and reach the required number of respondents faster than the RDS. Both groups differed in terms of gender (more men were recruited by snowball sampling), legality of employment (there were fewer lawfully employed in the RDS group) and average length of stay in Poland (migrants recruited by snowball sampling stayed in Poland for an average of 3.3 years and enrolled by RDS for 1.7 year). In both groups, recruitment was not self-driven by the chain of social networks of respondents. The reason was, inter alia, the structure of the social network of the migrant, which only to a small extent covered other migrants employed in senior care. The article closes the research gap for comparative research using snowball sampling and RDS on the same hard-to-reach population. The survey also attempts to verify to what extent face-to-face RDS can be used to survey hidden and rare populations scattered over a larger area than a city or agglomeration. Therefore the RDS method has been used to recruit respondents from the whole region without limiting the scope to one city or agglomeration.

show abstract

Prevalence of HCV among people who inject drugs in Brussels – A Respondent Driven Sampling Survey

Cited by 3 publications

References 15 publications

Identification and treatment of viral hepatitis C in persons who use drugs: a prospective, multicenter outreach study in Flanders, Belgium

Identification and treatment of viral hepatitis C in persons who use drugs: a prospective, multicenter outreach study in Flanders, Belgium

Hepatitis C reinfection in former and active injecting drug users in Belgium

Snowball Sampling vs. Respondent Driven Sampling in Regional Research. Comparing the use of the Methods to Study Migrants Working in Elderly Care

Contact Info

Product

Resources

About