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. 2023 Sep 25;13(1):16012.
doi: 10.1038/s41598-023-42701-1.

Incidence and molecular epidemiology of hepatitis C virus reinfection in prisons in Catalonia, Spain (Re-HCV study)

Verónica Saludes #  1   2 , Antoni E Bordoy #  1 , Elena Yela  3 , Elisabet Turú  4 , Anna Not  1 , Evelin López-Corbeto  2   5 , Laia Egea-Cortés  5 , Fernando González-Candelas  2   6 , Jordi Casabona  2   5 ; Group for the Study and Control of Infectious Diseases in Prison (GRUMIP); Andrés Marco  2   4 , Elisa Martró  7   8
Collaborators, Affiliations

Incidence and molecular epidemiology of hepatitis C virus reinfection in prisons in Catalonia, Spain (Re-HCV study)

Verónica Saludes et al. Sci Rep. .

Erratum in

Abstract

Hepatitis C virus (HCV) reinfection may hamper HCV elimination in prisons. We aimed to (i) determine the reinfection rate in people treated for HCV in Catalan prisons, (ii) measure reinfection in people entering prisons, and (iii) characterize the molecular epidemiology of HCV in prisons and people who inject drugs (PWID) in the community. Re-HCV was a prospective study in eight prisons (2019-2020) including two groups: (1) people cured with treatment in prison and followed-up every 6 months, and (2) people testing HCV-RNA positive at incarceration. Bio-behavioral data were collected. HCV isolates were sequenced and phylogenetically analyzed with those of PWID in the community. Reinfection follow-up after treatment was achieved in 97 individuals (103.05 person-years). Two reinfections were detected, resulting in an incidence ≤ 10/100 person-years. Among people entering prison, 2% (359/17,732) were viremic, of which 334 (93.0%) were included, and 44 (13.5%) presented with reinfection (84.7% being PWID). Frequently, HCV isolates in prisons and PWID in the community were phylogenetically related. Although HCV reinfection is low after treatment, it is common in people entering Catalan prisons. To maintain a low HCV prevalence in prisons, harm-reduction services and test-and-treat programs for PWID should be strengthened both inside and outside prisons.

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Conflict of interest statement

Regarding competing interests, VS received travel sponsorship to attend scientific meetings from Gilead Sciences and Cepheid; AM presented lectures at Symposia or Conferences organized by Gilead, Janssen, MSD, Abbvie, and ViiV, as well as consulting services for MSD and Camurus; and EM received lecture fees and research grants from Abbott GmbH & Co. K. G, Gilead Sciences, Cepheid, and Abbvie. The other authors declare no competing interests.

Figures

Figure 1
Figure 1
Flowchart of participants included in the reinfection follow-up and viremic study groups. R reinfection.
Figure 2
Figure 2
Schematic representation of mobility of participants in the reinfection follow-up group between prisons and with the community over the study period.
Figure 3
Figure 3
Stacked histogram of pairwise SNP differences between HCV sequences. (a) Pairwise SNP differences between sequences obtained from Re-HCV and HepCdetect II studies (n = 458). (b) Pairwise SNP differences between HCV isolate pairs of selected subtypes. In both panels, the black dashed line indicates a pairwise SNP threshold of two.
See this image and copyright information in PMC

References

    1. World Health Organization. Interim guidance for country validation of viral hepatitis elimination. Geneva: World Health Organization. https://www.who.int/publications-detail-redirect/9789240028395 (2021).
    1. Generalitat de Catalunya. Departament de Salut. Plà de prevenció i control de l’hepatitis C a Catalunya. http://salutpublica.gencat.cat/web/.content/minisite/aspcat/vigilancia_s... (2018).
    1. Ministerio de Sanidad Servicios Sociales e Igualdad. Strategic Plan for Tackling Hepatitis C in the Spanish National Health System 2015. https://www.mscbs.gob.es/ciudadanos/enfLesiones/enfTransmisibles/hepatit... (2015).
    1. Stöver H, et al. Offering HCV treatment to prisoners is an important opportunity: Key principles based on policy and practice assessment in Europe. BMC Public Health. 2019;19:30. doi: 10.1186/s12889-018-6357-x. - DOI - PMC - PubMed
    1. Marco, A., Guerrero, R. A. & Turu, E. Control of HCV infection in prisons in Catalonia, Spain. Compendium of good practices in the health sector response to viral hepatitis in the WHO European Region. Copenhagen: WHO Regional Office for Europe (2020).

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