Cargando…

Hepatitis C outreach project and cross-sectional epidemiology in high-risk populations in Trondheim, Norway

BACKGROUND: Hepatitis C is highly prevalent among people who use drugs (PWUD), and the hepatitis C virus (HCV) epidemic is less characterised in Norway. The aims of the study were to assess the prevalence and treatment willingness in high-risk populations by reaching out to frequently visited sites...

Descripción completa

Detalles Bibliográficos
Autores principales: Hannula, Raisa, Söderholm, Jonas, Svendsen, Therese, Skaland, Maja, Nordbø, Svein A., Steinum, Harald, Damås, Jan K.
Formato: Online Artículo Texto
Lenguaje:English
Publicado: SAGE Publications 2021
Materias:
Acceso en línea:https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC8558792/
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/34733508
http://dx.doi.org/10.1177/20499361211053929
_version_ 1784592634632732672
author Hannula, Raisa
Söderholm, Jonas
Svendsen, Therese
Skaland, Maja
Nordbø, Svein A.
Steinum, Harald
Damås, Jan K.
author_facet Hannula, Raisa
Söderholm, Jonas
Svendsen, Therese
Skaland, Maja
Nordbø, Svein A.
Steinum, Harald
Damås, Jan K.
author_sort Hannula, Raisa
collection PubMed
description BACKGROUND: Hepatitis C is highly prevalent among people who use drugs (PWUD), and the hepatitis C virus (HCV) epidemic is less characterised in Norway. The aims of the study were to assess the prevalence and treatment willingness in high-risk populations by reaching out to frequently visited sites for high-risk populations. METHODS: Individuals from high-risk populations were included from September 2015 to March 2017. Two dedicated study nurses frequently visited the local opioid substitution clinic, outpatient clinics, PWUD day centres, local prison, and refugee centre in Trondheim, Norway. Demographic data, risk behaviour, and clinical symptoms were obtained by study questionnaire. Subjects with anti-HCV(+) rapid test were subsequently tested for HCV RNA and genotyped. Viraemic patients were offered referral for HCV treatment evaluation. RESULTS: A total of 381 participants were included in the study: 52 immigrants, 62 prisoners, and 267 PWUD. The anti-HCV prevalence rates were 0% (n = 0) in immigrants, 40% (n = 25) in prisoners, and 61% (n = 164) in PWUD, with 24% (n = 15) of prisoners and 42% (n = 108) of PWUD being viraemic. Of those qualifying for treatment (n = 31), 30 wished to be evaluated. CONCLUSION: This study showed high HCV prevalence in prisoners and PWUD and that infected high-risk patients were interested in treatment evaluation.
format Online
Article
Text
id pubmed-8558792
institution National Center for Biotechnology Information
language English
publishDate 2021
publisher SAGE Publications
record_format MEDLINE/PubMed
spelling pubmed-85587922021-11-02 Hepatitis C outreach project and cross-sectional epidemiology in high-risk populations in Trondheim, Norway Hannula, Raisa Söderholm, Jonas Svendsen, Therese Skaland, Maja Nordbø, Svein A. Steinum, Harald Damås, Jan K. Ther Adv Infect Dis Infections Associated with Substance Use and Related Behaviors BACKGROUND: Hepatitis C is highly prevalent among people who use drugs (PWUD), and the hepatitis C virus (HCV) epidemic is less characterised in Norway. The aims of the study were to assess the prevalence and treatment willingness in high-risk populations by reaching out to frequently visited sites for high-risk populations. METHODS: Individuals from high-risk populations were included from September 2015 to March 2017. Two dedicated study nurses frequently visited the local opioid substitution clinic, outpatient clinics, PWUD day centres, local prison, and refugee centre in Trondheim, Norway. Demographic data, risk behaviour, and clinical symptoms were obtained by study questionnaire. Subjects with anti-HCV(+) rapid test were subsequently tested for HCV RNA and genotyped. Viraemic patients were offered referral for HCV treatment evaluation. RESULTS: A total of 381 participants were included in the study: 52 immigrants, 62 prisoners, and 267 PWUD. The anti-HCV prevalence rates were 0% (n = 0) in immigrants, 40% (n = 25) in prisoners, and 61% (n = 164) in PWUD, with 24% (n = 15) of prisoners and 42% (n = 108) of PWUD being viraemic. Of those qualifying for treatment (n = 31), 30 wished to be evaluated. CONCLUSION: This study showed high HCV prevalence in prisoners and PWUD and that infected high-risk patients were interested in treatment evaluation. SAGE Publications 2021-10-28 /pmc/articles/PMC8558792/ /pubmed/34733508 http://dx.doi.org/10.1177/20499361211053929 Text en © The Author(s), 2021 https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/This article is distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 License (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/) which permits any use, reproduction and distribution of the work without further permission provided the original work is attributed as specified on the SAGE and Open Access page (https://us.sagepub.com/en-us/nam/open-access-at-sage).
spellingShingle Infections Associated with Substance Use and Related Behaviors
Hannula, Raisa
Söderholm, Jonas
Svendsen, Therese
Skaland, Maja
Nordbø, Svein A.
Steinum, Harald
Damås, Jan K.
Hepatitis C outreach project and cross-sectional epidemiology in high-risk populations in Trondheim, Norway
title Hepatitis C outreach project and cross-sectional epidemiology in high-risk populations in Trondheim, Norway
title_full Hepatitis C outreach project and cross-sectional epidemiology in high-risk populations in Trondheim, Norway
title_fullStr Hepatitis C outreach project and cross-sectional epidemiology in high-risk populations in Trondheim, Norway
title_full_unstemmed Hepatitis C outreach project and cross-sectional epidemiology in high-risk populations in Trondheim, Norway
title_short Hepatitis C outreach project and cross-sectional epidemiology in high-risk populations in Trondheim, Norway
title_sort hepatitis c outreach project and cross-sectional epidemiology in high-risk populations in trondheim, norway
topic Infections Associated with Substance Use and Related Behaviors
url https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC8558792/
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/34733508
http://dx.doi.org/10.1177/20499361211053929
work_keys_str_mv AT hannularaisa hepatitiscoutreachprojectandcrosssectionalepidemiologyinhighriskpopulationsintrondheimnorway
AT soderholmjonas hepatitiscoutreachprojectandcrosssectionalepidemiologyinhighriskpopulationsintrondheimnorway
AT svendsentherese hepatitiscoutreachprojectandcrosssectionalepidemiologyinhighriskpopulationsintrondheimnorway
AT skalandmaja hepatitiscoutreachprojectandcrosssectionalepidemiologyinhighriskpopulationsintrondheimnorway
AT nordbøsveina hepatitiscoutreachprojectandcrosssectionalepidemiologyinhighriskpopulationsintrondheimnorway
AT steinumharald hepatitiscoutreachprojectandcrosssectionalepidemiologyinhighriskpopulationsintrondheimnorway
AT damasjank hepatitiscoutreachprojectandcrosssectionalepidemiologyinhighriskpopulationsintrondheimnorway