A study presented at the IDWEEK 2020 Virtual Annual Meeting studied the need for rapid initiation of hepatitis C virus (HCV) care in patients who test positive for the disease.
Paulina Deming, PharmD, BS, Associate Professor at the University of New Mexico, and colleagues aimed to “develop a HCV connect-to-care cascade,” to improve HCV care in their state.
“An estimated 65,000 New Mexicans are infected with HCV, accounting for [approximately] 3% of the state’s population with intravenous drug use being the most common risk factor for the acquisition of HCV,” they wrote. “In 2020, the US Preventive Service Task Force recommended universal HCV screening for all adults aged 18 to 79 years old. HCV screening requires a two-step process involving a HCV antibody (Ab) test followed by a confirmatory HCV ribonucleic acid (RNA) test to detect active infection.”
Deming and colleagues explained that despite removal of barriers to treatment, such as specialist referral, fibrosis staging, and abstinence from substance abuse, “major gaps in access to HCV treatment still persist.”
The researchers studied more than 11,000 patients and 14,566 HCV tests performed In 2018.
They found that only 61.7% of newly diagnosed HCV patients were referred for treatment. Additionally, only 11.7% initiated treatment.
However, among the 88.5% of those patients who completed treatment, all achieved sustained virologic response.
“With the pan-genotypic HCV treatments having fewer side effects and high clinical success rates, it’s feasible that HCV treatment may no longer require a specialist,” they concluded. “Similar to the rapid initiation of antiretrovirals in newly diagnosed HIV patients, where immediate access to treatment within days of diagnosis resulted in improved retention in care, decreased time to viral suppression, and decreased viral transmission, rapid initiation of HCV treatment may be the wave of the future.”
