“There is increasing evidence that we should be doing more treatment in persons who inject drugs. Many of these individuals have very early disease and their response rates are excellent,” according to Dr. Terrault.
Moreover, their reinfection rates “are not outrageous,” she said: 1% or less in individuals who stopped injecting drugs decades prior to anti-HCV treatment, 5%-10% over the course of 3-5 years in those who continue injecting drugs after achieving SVR, and about 2% in those on methadone substitution therapy.
“These are very acceptable levels of reinfection if our goal is to move toward elimination of hepatitis C in this population,” she said.
She reported having no financial conflicts regarding her presentation.