Sexually-transmitted hepatitis C virus reinfections among people living with HIV in Taiwan: the emerging role of genotype 6

ABSTRACT

Hepatitis C virus (HCV) reinfections after successful treatment with direct-acting antivirals (DAAs) pose a significant challenge to HCV elimination, especially among high-risk people living with HIV (PLWH). In this study, PLWH who had achieved HCV viral clearance with DAAs were included between January 2018 and June 2021. PLWH having acquired HCV infections after 2017 were classified as “recent-infection group,” and those before 2017 as “remote-infection group,” and the incidences of HCV reinfection were compared between two groups. Clinical and behavioural characteristics were evaluated to identify associated factors with HCV reinfection. A total of 284 PLWH were included: 179 in the recent-infection group and 105 in the remote-infection group. After a median follow-up of 2.32 years (interquartile range [IQR], 0.13–3.94), the overall incidence of HCV reinfection was 5.8 per 100 person-years of follow-up (PYFU). The incidence in the recent-infection group was significantly higher than that in the remote-infection group (9.8 vs. 0.4 per 100 PYFU, p < 0.001). The leading HCV genotypes before DAA treatment were genotypes 2 (31.0%), 1b (26.8%), and 6 (21.8%); however, genotype 6 (58.8%) became predominant upon reinfection. Younger age (adjusted odds ratio [aOR] per 1-year increase, 0.95; 95% CI, 0.90–0.99), condomless receptive anal sex (aOR, 14.5; 95% CI, 2.37–88.8), rimming (aOR, 3.87; 95% CI, 1.14–13.1), and recent syphilis (aOR, 2.73; 95% CI, 1.26–5.91) were linked to HCV reinfections. In conclusion, PLWH acquiring HCV after 2017 had a significantly higher risk for sexually-transmitted HCV reinfections. The predominance of HCV genotype 6 reinfections suggests possible on-going clustered HCV infections among at-risk PLWH.

KEYWORDS:

• Men who have sex with men
• sexually transmitted disease
• condomless receptive anal intercourse
• genotype switch
• phylogenetic analysis

Disclosure statement

C.C. Hung has received research support from Merck, Gilead Sciences, and ViiV and speaker honoraria from Gilead Sciences and ViiV, and served on advisory boards for Gilead Sciences and ViiV. H.Y. Sun has received research support from Gilead Sciences. Other authors have no competing interest to disclose.

Additional information

Funding

This work is supported by the National Taiwan University Hospital, Taipei, Taiwan [grant numbers NTUH-106-003347, NTUH-108-004310, and NTUH-109-004472]; and Gilead Sciences [grant number IN-US-987-5797] (the NoCo Study).