Background
Hepatitis
C virus (HCV) is the most common viral infection among injecting drug users
worldwide. We aimed to assess HCV antibody prevalence and associated risk
factors among clients in the Chinese national methadone maintenance treatment
(MMT) program.
Methods
Data
from 296,209 clients who enrolled in the national MMT program between March
2004 and December 2012 were analyzed to assess HCV antibody prevalence,
associated risk factors, and geographical distribution.
Results
Anti-HCV
screening was positive for 54.6% of clients upon MMT entry between 2004 and
2012. HCV antibody prevalence at entry declined from 66.8% in 2005 to 45.9% in
2012. The most significant predictors of HCV seropositivity were injecting drug
use (adjusted odds ratio [AOR]: 8.34, 95% confidence interval [CI]: 8.17–8.52,
p<0.0001) and a history of drug use ≥9 years (AOR: 2.01, 95% CI: 1.96–2.06,
p<0.0001). Being female, of Uyghur or Zhuang ethnicity, and unmarried were
identified as demographic risk factors (all p-values<0.0001). Of the 28
provincial-level divisions included in the study, we found that 5 divisions had
HCV antibody prevalence above 70% and 20 divisions above 50%. The HCV screening
rate within 6 months after MMT entry greatly increased from 30.4% in 2004 to
93.1% in 2012.
Conclusions
The current HCV antibody prevalence remains alarmingly
high among MMT clients throughout most provincial-level divisions in China,
particularly among injecting drug users and females. A comprehensive prevention
strategy is needed to control the HCV epidemic among MMT clients in China.
Below: The geographical distribution of (A) HCV antibody prevalence and (B) proportion of injecting drug use among MMT clients with baseline HCV test results in China
Full article at: http://goo.gl/k897iv
By:
National Center for AIDS/STD Control and Prevention, Chinese Center for Disease Control and Prevention, Beijing, China
More at: https://twitter.com/hiv insight
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