Optimal Frequency of Hepatitis C Virus (HCV) RNA Testing for Detection of Acute HCV Infection Among At-risk People With Human Immunodeficiency Virus: A Multicenter Study

Hsin-Yun Sun; Bo-Huang Liou; Tun-Chieh Chen; Chia-Jui Yang; Sung-Hsi Huang; Po-Liang Lu; Chung-Hao Huang; Mao-Song Tsai; Shu-Hsing Cheng; Nan-Yao Lee; Wen-Chien Ko; Yen-Hsu Chen; Wang-Da Liu; Shang-Yi Lin; Shih-Ping Lin; Po-Lin Chen; Ling-Shan Syue; Yu-Shan Huang; Yu-Chung Chuang; Cheng-Bin Chen; Ya-Ting Chang; Yuan-Ti Lee; Szu-Min Hsieh; Li-Hsin Su; Chien-Yu Cheng; Chien-Ching Hung

doi:10.1093/ofid/ofad307

Optimal Frequency of Hepatitis C Virus (HCV) RNA Testing for Detection of Acute HCV Infection Among At-risk People With Human Immunodeficiency Virus: A Multicenter Study

Open Forum Infect Dis. 2023 Jun 6;10(6):ofad307. doi: 10.1093/ofid/ofad307. eCollection 2023 Jun.

Authors

Hsin-Yun Sun¹, Bo-Huang Liou², Tun-Chieh Chen^{3

4}, Chia-Jui Yang^{5

6}, Sung-Hsi Huang^{7

8}, Po-Liang Lu⁴, Chung-Hao Huang⁴, Mao-Song Tsai⁵, Shu-Hsing Cheng^{9

10}, Nan-Yao Lee¹¹, Wen-Chien Ko¹¹, Yen-Hsu Chen¹², Wang-Da Liu^{1

13}, Shang-Yi Lin⁴, Shih-Ping Lin¹⁴, Po-Lin Chen¹¹, Ling-Shan Syue¹¹, Yu-Shan Huang¹, Yu-Chung Chuang¹, Cheng-Bin Chen⁹, Ya-Ting Chang⁴, Yuan-Ti Lee^{15

16}, Szu-Min Hsieh¹, Li-Hsin Su¹, Chien-Yu Cheng^{9

17}, Chien-Ching Hung^{1

8

18}

Affiliations

¹ Department of Internal Medicine, National Taiwan University Hospital and National Taiwan University College of Medicine, Taipei, Taiwan.
² Department of Internal Medicine, Hsinchu MacKay Memorial Hospital, Hsinchu, Taiwan.
³ Department of Internal Medicine, Kaohsiung Municipal Ta-Tung Hospital, Kaohsiung, Taiwan.
⁴ Department of Internal Medicine, Kaohsiung Medical University Hospital and College of Medicine, Kaohsiung Medical University, Kaohsiung, Taiwan.
⁵ Department of Internal Medicine, Far Eastern Memorial Hospital, New Taipei City, Taiwan.
⁶ School of Medicine, National Yang Ming Chiao Tung University, Taipei, Taiwan.
⁷ Department of Internal Medicine, National Taiwan University Hospital Hsin-Chu Branch, Hsinchu, Taiwan.
⁸ Department of Tropical Medicine and Parasitology, National Taiwan University College of Medicine, Taipei, Taiwan.
⁹ Department of Infectious Diseases, Taoyuan General Hospital, Ministry of Health and Welfare, Taoyuan, Taiwan.
¹⁰ School of Public Health, Taipei Medical University, Taipei, Taiwan.
¹¹ Department of Medicine, National Cheng Kung University Hospital, College of Medicine, National Cheng Kung University, Tainan, Taiwan.
¹² School of Medicine, College of Medicine, National Sun Yat-Sen University, Kaohsiung, Taiwan.
¹³ Department of Internal Medicine, National Taiwan University Cancer Center, Taipei, Taiwan.
¹⁴ Department of Internal Medicine, Taichung Veterans General Hospital, Taichung, Taiwan.
¹⁵ Department of Internal Medicine, Chung Shan Medical University Hospital, Taichung, Taiwan.
¹⁶ School of Medicine, Chung Shan Medical University, Taichung, Taiwan.
¹⁷ School of Public Health, National Yang Ming Chiao Tung University, Taipei, Taiwan.
¹⁸ Department of Internal Medicine, National Taiwan University Hospital Yun-Lin Branch, Yun-Lin, Taiwan.

Abstract

Using 3-stage pooled-plasma hepatitis C virus (HCV) RNA testing performed quarterly among at-risk people with human immunodeficiency virus (PWH), we found that if testing had been performed every 6 or 12 months, 58.6%-91.7% of PWH who recently acquired HCV would be delayed for diagnosis and might contribute to onward HCV transmission with longer durations.

Keywords: HCV RNA testing; HIV; acute HCV infection; testing frequency.