Screening for hepatitis C at the time of the pandemic: Need to adjust the shot

Torre, Pietro; Coppola, Carmine; Masarone, Mario; Persico, Marcello

doi:10.1111/liv.15314

Cited by 3 publications

(2 citation statements)

References 5 publications

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“…Meanwhile (2021-2022), as was previously suggested and recommended [7,32,33], the pandemic itself was exploited to the advantage of HCV testing, that is to say SARS-CoV-2 testing or vaccination were leveraged for a concomitant HCV screening in the general population. Programs of this type were conducted in northern and southern Italy and documented a lower-than-expected prevalence of infection in the target age group [34][35][36][37].…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Country-Wide HCV Elimination Strategies Need to Reach Older Patients in the General Population: The Italian Experience

Torre,

Coppola,

Masarone

et al. 2023

Viruses

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HCV infection is still a major burden worldwide, and most countries are not on track to meet the WHO 2030 elimination goal. The current challenge is to identify individuals to be treated. In this study, we will describe the trend of new DAA prescriptions and the changes over time in terms of the characteristics of patients starting antiviral therapy in our unit. Data of 1646 hepatitis C patients who started therapy during the period of 2015–2022 regarding annual number of prescriptions, age, gender, nationality, HCV genotype, provenance, and liver disease severity were analyzed. We observed a peak in the number of new prescriptions in 2018 and a downward trend starting in 2019. Patients from the general population, centers for addictions, and prison differed significantly. The mean age in the general population remained above 60 years, the percentage of patients from centers for addictions and prison increased and, after 2016, there was no significant change in the percentage of patients with F3–F4 fibrosis. As HCV screening and linkage-to-care pathways seem to be already well implemented and successful in centers for addictions and in prisons, efforts need to be focused on those of older age in the general population. To carry this out, the more structured involvement of different health professionals must be figured out.

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Country-Wide HCV Elimination Strategies Need to Reach Older Patients in the General Population: The Italian Experience

Torre,

Coppola,

Masarone

et al. 2023

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“…The remaining 27% of patients were estimated to have cirrhosis, which emphasizes the need to implement plans to improve screening and linkage to care of patients with HCV in Italy [4]. More recent screening studies conducted during the COVID-19 pandemic showed that depending on the population demographics the HCV prevalence varied from 0.07% up to 2.5%, and up to 29.4% of patients were not aware of their serological status [8][9][10][11][12].…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Safety and effectiveness of 8 weeks of Glecaprevir/Pibrentasvir in challenging HCV patients: Italian data from the CREST study

et al. 2023

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Introduction Glecaprevir/pibrentasvir (G/P) has demonstrated high rates (>95%) of sustained virologic response at posttreatment Week 12 (SVR12) in treatment-naïve (TN) patients with hepatitis C virus (HCV) infection and compensated cirrhosis (CC). Here, in a key real-world subset of TN Italian patients with CC, we evaluated the effectiveness and safety of 8-week G/P treatment, including subgroups of interest such as those with genotype 3 (GT3) infection, elderly patients, and those with more advanced liver disease. Methods Subanalysis of Italian patients enrolled in the CREST study. The full analysis set (FAS) included all patients enrolled in the study; the modified analysis set (MAS) excluded patients who discontinued G/P for nonvirologic failure or who had missing SVR12 results. Primary and secondary endpoints included SVR12 and safety, respectively. Results Of 42 patients included in the FAS, 1 discontinued for unknown reasons, and 2 had missing SVR12 data, leaving 39 patients included in the MAS. At treatment initiation, 74% of patients had ≥1 comorbidity, and 62% were receiving concomitant medications, including some that may potentially interact with G/P. SVR12 was achieved in 100% of patients in the MAS, and in 95% in the FAS. In subgroups of interest, the proportion of patients achieving SVR12 in the MAS (and FAS) was: 100% (94%) for patients ≥65 years, 100% (86%) for GT3, and 100% (100%) for patients with platelet count <150 × 109/L and FibroScan® >20 kPa. Overall, 2 (5%) patients had an adverse event and neither were serious. Conclusion Results from this real-world Italian cohort demonstrated the safety and effectiveness of 8-week G/P, with SVR12 rate >95%, even in elderly patients. These findings further support real-world evidence of the use of short-course G/P treatment in all patients with CC, including those with GT3, and those with advanced liver disease.

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Elimination of HCV Infection: Recent Epidemiological Findings, Barriers, and Strategies for the Coming Years

Torre,

Festa,

Sarcina

et al. 2024

Viruses

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Hepatitis C is a disease for which in approximately 30 years we have gone from the discovery of the causative agent in 1989, to the introduction of direct-acting antiviral (DAAs) therapies starting from 2011, and to a proposal for its elimination in 2016, with some countries being on track for this goal. Elimination efforts, in the absence of a vaccine, rely on prevention measures and antiviral therapies. However, treatment rates have declined in recent years and are not considered adequate to achieve this goal at a global level. This poses a great epidemiological challenge, as HCV in many countries still causes a significant burden and most infected people are not yet diagnosed. Consequently, efforts are needed at different levels with common purposes: to facilitate access to screening and diagnosis and to improve linkage to care pathways. In this review, we discuss the latest epidemiological findings on HCV infection, the obstacles to its elimination, and strategies that are believed to be useful to overcome these obstacles but are applied unevenly across the world.

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Screening for hepatitis C at the time of the pandemic: Need to adjust the shot

Cited by 3 publications

References 5 publications

Country-Wide HCV Elimination Strategies Need to Reach Older Patients in the General Population: The Italian Experience

Country-Wide HCV Elimination Strategies Need to Reach Older Patients in the General Population: The Italian Experience

Safety and effectiveness of 8 weeks of Glecaprevir/Pibrentasvir in challenging HCV patients: Italian data from the CREST study

Elimination of HCV Infection: Recent Epidemiological Findings, Barriers, and Strategies for the Coming Years

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