12th Annual Conference of the British HIV Association 29 March–1 April 2006, Brighton, UK

HEPATITIS C VIRUS (HCV) CO-INFECTION IN HIV-INFECTED PATIENTS IN THE UK COLLABORATIVE HIV COHORT (CHIC) STUDY

HIV Med 2006 Mar 29-Apr 1 (Suppl 1);12:4 (abstract no. O14)

Joanna Turner¹, Loveleen Bansi², Richard Gilson¹ and Caroline Sabin^2
1 Centre for Sexual Health and HIV Research, Royal Free and UC Medical School, London, ² Department of Primary Care and Population Sciences, Royal Free and UC Medical School, London, UK

AIMS: To describe trends in HCV testing and prevalence of HCV co-infection in the UK CHIC Study.

METHODS: Data from all centres in the UK CHIC study that contributed HCV antibody test data were included in the analysis (six of seven centres).

RESULTS: 11357/18630 (61.0%) patients had had at least one HCV antibody test. 9386 (86.6%) of these patients were male, 7770 (68.74%) white, 427 (3.8%) were injection-drug users (IDUs) and 7806 (68.7%) were homosexual; the median age of those tested was 36.3 (IQR: 31.4, 42.1) years. The proportion of patients tested increased over time, with 369/5204 (7.1%) patients undergoing follow-up in 1995 having been tested at some time, 2861/8233 (34.8%) in 2000 and 8033/10219 (78.6%) in 2004. 1045/11357 (9.2%, 95% CI: 8.7–9.7) of the patients tested for HCV antibody had at least one positive result with the proportion of positive results falling over time – 94/369 (25.5%) in 1995, 369/2861 (12.9%) in 2000 and 648/8033 (8.1%) in 2004. Among those with a test result, factors independently associated with detectable HCV antibody were earlier calendar year of test, younger age, female gender, injection-drug use and black African ethnicity.

CONCLUSION: As there has been a move towards testing all individuals for HCV, rather than only those felt to be at high risk, the proportion of patients testing positive for HCV antibody has decreased. Further analyses will determine the incidence of HCV infection and the impact of HCV–HIV co-infection on response to HAART.

2006-03-29
O14

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