Antiviral treatment for hepatitis C among injecting drug users in the era of direct-acting antiviral agents

Abstract

HCV prevalence among people who inject drugs (PWID) is up to 67%. PWID is a population that needs priority attention to achieve the World Health Organization's goal of eliminating viral hepatitis as a public health threat by 2030. Although the SVR of HCV patients treated with direct-acting antiviral drugs (DAAs) can reach over 95%, especially in medical practice, there are still major obstacles to PWID treatment, because PWID is usually accompanied with concurrent infection, multiple-genotype infections, low compliance, substance abuse, methadone maintenance therapy, and risky behavior and re-infection conditions. Therefore, physicians often concern that these factors will affect the treatment efficacy, and refuse to provide hepatitis C treatment in PWID. This article reviews the relevant studies status and effects of hepatitis C treatment in PWID with different infection states and special behavior characteristics, and further highlights that the multidisciplinary cooperation for hepatitis C treatment in PWID is safe and effective, and can ensure treatment compliance.