Low Adherence Achieves High HCV Cure Rates Among People Who Inject Drugs Treated With Direct-Acting Antiviral Agents

Brianna L Norton; Matthew J Akiyama; Linda Agyemang; Moonseong Heo; Irene- Pericot-Valverde; Alain H Litwin

doi:10.1093/ofid/ofaa377

Low Adherence Achieves High HCV Cure Rates Among People Who Inject Drugs Treated With Direct-Acting Antiviral Agents

Open Forum Infect Dis. 2020 Aug 26;7(10):ofaa377. doi: 10.1093/ofid/ofaa377. eCollection 2020 Oct.

Authors

Brianna L Norton¹, Matthew J Akiyama¹, Linda Agyemang¹, Moonseong Heo², Irene- Pericot-Valverde³, Alain H Litwin^{3

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Affiliations

¹ Division of General Internal Medicine, Department of Medicine, Albert Einstein College of Medicine, Montefiore Medical Center, Bronx, New York, USA.
² Department of Public Health Sciences, Clemson University, Clemson, South Carolina, USA.
³ Department of Medicine, University of South Carolina School of Medicine - Greenville, Greenville, South Carolina, USA.
⁴ Clemson University School of Health Research, Clemson, South Carolina, USA.
⁵ Prisma Health, Greenville, South Carolina, USA.

Abstract

We measured hepatitis C virus (HCV) adherence via electronic blister packs for 145 people who inject drugs treated on-site in a methadone program. The overall sustained virologic response (SVR) rate was 96% (95% CI, 91%-98%), and overall daily adherence was 78% (95% CI, 76%-81%). Participants who achieved at least 50% adherence had an overall SVR rate of 99%, with each 5% adherence interval >50% achieving at least 90% adherence. Suboptimal adherence may still lead to cure in the direct-acting antiviral era.

Keywords: HCV; PWID; adherence rates.

Abstract

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