Injecting risk behaviours following treatment for hepatitis C virus infection among people who inject drugs: The Australian Trial in Acute Hepatitis C

M Alavi; T Spelman; GV Matthews; PS Haber; C Day; I van Beek; N Walsh; B Yeung; J Bruneau; K Petoumenos; K Dolan; JM Kaldor; GJ Dore; M Hellard; J Grebely; P Marks; J Amin; A Doab; T Carroll; S Teutsch; H Li; A Oon; B Cameron; A Lloyd; P White; W Rawlinson; Jacqueline Flynn; K Goy; O Nguyen; S von Bibra; R Ffrench; G McCaughan; A Madden; G Farrell; N Crofts; W Sievert; D Baker; B Jacka; Y Pan; D Shaw; J Sasadeusz; D Crawford; N Phung; J George; M Bloch; B Hughes; L Mollison; S Roberts; P Desmond

Journal article

Injecting risk behaviours following treatment for hepatitis C virus infection among people who inject drugs: The Australian Trial in Acute Hepatitis C

M Alavi, T Spelman, GV Matthews, PS Haber, C Day, I van Beek, N Walsh, B Yeung, J Bruneau, K Petoumenos, K Dolan, JM Kaldor, GJ Dore, M Hellard, J Grebely, P Marks, J Amin, A Doab, T Carroll, S Teutsch Show all

International Journal of Drug Policy | ELSEVIER | Published : 2015

DOI: 10.1016/j.drugpo.2015.05.003

Abstract

Background: A barrier to hepatitis C virus (HCV) treatment among people who inject drugs (PWID) has been a concern that interferon-based HCV treatment may increase injecting risk behaviours. This study evaluated recent (past month) injecting risk behaviours during follow-up among PWID that did and did not receive HCV treatment. Methods: The Australian Trial in Acute Hepatitis C (ATAHC) was a prospective study of natural history and treatment of recent HCV infection. Analyses were performed using generalized estimating equations. Results: Among 124 participants with a history of injecting drug use (median age 32 years), 69% were male, and 68% were treated for HCV infection. HCV treatment was ..

View full abstract

University of Melbourne Researchers

Timothy Spelman Author

Margaret Hellard Author

Paul Desmond Author

Grants

Awarded by National Institutes of Health

Funding Acknowledgements

The Kirby Institute is funded by the Australian Government Department of Health, under the agreement ID number 2-D3X513. The views expressed in this publication do not necessarily represent the position of the Australian Government. Research reported in this publication was supported by the National Institute on Drug Abuse of the National Institutes of Health under award R01DA015999. The content is solely the responsibility of the authors and does not necessarily represent the official views of the National Institutes of Health. Roche supplied financial support for pegylated IFN-alfa-2a/ribavirin. Gregory Dore and Paul Haber were supported through a National Health and Medical Research Council Practitioner Research Fellowship. Jason Grebely was supported through a National Health and Medical Research Council Career Development Award. Margaret Hellard was supported through a National Health and Medical Research Council Research Fellowship. John Kaldor was supported through a National Health and Medical Research Council Research Fellowship.