Hepatitis C virus incidence in HIV-infected and in preexposure prophylaxis (PrEP)-using men having sex with men.

BACKGROUND & AIMS: HCV incidence still appears on the rise in HIV-infected MSM in France. We assessed the incidence of HCV infection in HIV-positive and in preexposure prophylaxis (PrEP)-using MSM.

METHODS

HIV-infected, HCV-negative MSM with serological follow-up in 2016 and HIV-negative, HCV-negative PrEP-using MSM enrolled from January 2016 to May 2017 in the French Dat'AIDS cohort were analyzed to assess the incidence of a primary HCV infection. The incidence of HCV reinfection was also determined in patients having cured a previous infection.

RESULTS

Among 10,049 HIV-infected MSM followed in 2016, 681 patients were already HCV-infected when entering the study (prevalence 6.8%). Serological follow-up was available in 2016 for 4,151 HCV-negative patients. Virological follow-up was available for 478 patients who had cured a previous infection. Fifty-seven HCV infections occurred in 2016 (42 primary infections, 15 reinfections). Incidence of primary HCV infection, reinfection and overall HCV infection was respectively 1.0, 3.1 and 1.2/100 person-years (PY). From January 2016 to May 2017, 930 HIV-negative subjects were enrolled for PrEP. Seventeen patients were already HCV-infected (prevalence 1.8%). Twelve HCV infections occurred during follow-up (10 primary infections, 2 reinfections) giving an incidence of primary infection of 1.0/100 PY and an overall incidence of 1.2/100 PY.

CONCLUSIONS

The overall incidence of HCV infection and of a primary HCV infection in HIV-positive and in PrEP-using MSM appeared similar in France in 2016-early 2017. HIV-positive and PrEP-using MSM probably share similar at-risk practices and both should be targeted for preventative interventions. This article is protected by copyright. All rights reserved.