Prioritize Injection Drug Users for Hepatitis C Treatment

Coverage from the
International AIDS Society (IAS) 2017 Conference 

Prioritize Injection Drug Users for Hepatitis C Treatment
Ingrid Hein
July 27, 2017 

"Average drug users with HCV are likely to infect two to six people before they move away from drug use," he reported. "A focus on treating people who are HCV-positive and injecting is the only way to slow and prevent spread of the virus."

Targeting treatment to patients with advanced liver fibrosis "as a result of the virus has been shown to be a less-effective model for eliminating HCV," Dr Dillon told Medscape Medical News. By selecting patients most likely to spread the disease, the impact will be greater, he added.

In Scotland, more than 85% of the people with a diagnosis of hepatitis C inject drugs, Dr Dillon reported. To date, they have been considered by most treatment services to be "too chaotic to treat" because they are associated with poor adherence to therapy and rapid reinfection, he explained.

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