ArticleHarm reduction journal2020
High prevalence of hepatitis C virus infection and low level of awareness among people who recently started injecting drugs in a cross-sectional study in Germany, 2011-2014: missed opportunities for hepatitis C testing.
Article in Harm reduction journal, 2020. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 20 papers, 1 of them a synthesis that pooled it.
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Who cites it
20 citing papers in PubMed, 1 synthesis or guideline pooled it, 32 citations in OpenAlex.
- Prevalence and high risk behaviours associated with HCV testing among people who inject drugs: a systematic review and Meta-analysis.Substance abuse treatment, prevention, and policy · 2020Pooled it
- Awareness of hepatitis C knowledge among four high-risk populations in Xiamen, China: a cross-sectional study.BMC infectious diseases · 2026Article
- Active and resolved HCV infections among people with new HIV-1 diagnoses in Germany, 2009-2019.BMC infectious diseases · 2025Article
- A protocol for identifying the needs related to drug use, health and social (re)integration of people living in prison within five European countries.Archives of public health = Archives belges de sante publique · 2024Article
- ReLink strategy in diagnosed-but-untreated hepatitis C-positive patients in Germany: report from a single center.Zeitschrift fur Gastroenterologie · 2024Article
- Knowledge of, and attitude towards, the treatment of hepatitis C in people who inject drugs.Harm reduction journal · 2024Article
- Evaluating hepatitis C cascade of care surveillance system in Tuscany, Italy, through a population retrospective data-linkage study, 2015-2021.BMC infectious diseases · 2024Article
- Emergency department contribution to HCV elimination in the Iberian Peninsula.International journal of emergency medicine · 2024Article
- Occult hepatitis C infection identified in injection drug users with direct antiviral agents therapy and spontaneous resolution of hepatitis C virus infection.Virus research · 2023Article
- Hepatitis C virus prevalence, determinants, and cascade of care among people who inject drugs in Iran.Drug and alcohol dependence · 2023Article
- Prevalence, diagnosis, treatment, and associated factors of hepatitis C in the United States from 1999 to 2018: A population-based cross-sectional study.Liver research (Beijing, China) · 2022Article
- Usability and acceptability of oral fluid hepatitis C self-testing among people who inject drugs in Coastal Kenya: a cross-sectional pilot study.BMC infectious diseases · 2022Article
- Patterns and correlates of hepatitis C virus phylogenetic clustering among people living with HIV in Australia in the direct-acting antiviral era: A molecular epidemiology study among participants in the CEASE cohort.Health science reports · 2022Article
- The impact of unrestricted access to direct-acting antiviral among incarcerated hepatitis C virus-infected patients.Clinical and molecular hepatology · 2021Article
- Values and preferences for hepatitis C self-testing among people who inject drugs in Kyrgyzstan.BMC infectious diseases · 2021Article
- Hepatitis C virus: Current steps toward elimination in Germany and barriers to reaching the 2030 goal.Health science reports · 2021Review
- Article
- Barriers to initiation of hepatitis C virus therapy in Germany: A retrospective, case-controlled study.PloS one · 2021Article
- Hepatitis C-committing the world to an eradication of the infection.Hepatobiliary surgery and nutrition · 2021Article
- HCV Glycoprotein Structure and Implications for B-Cell Vaccine Development.International journal of molecular sciences · 2020Review
Corrections and comments
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Authors and funding
9 authors at 2 institutions in 2 countries.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
backgroundIn Germany, risk of hepatitis C virus (HCV) infection is highest among people who inject drugs (PWID). New injectors (NI) are particularly vulnerable for HCV-acquisition, but little is known about health seeking behaviour and opportunities for intervention in this group. We describe characteristics, HCV prevalence, estimated HCV incidence and awareness of HCV-status among NIs and missed opportunities for hepatitis C testing.
methodsPeople who had injected drugs in the last 12 months were recruited into a cross-sectional serobehavioural study using respondent-driven sampling in 8 German cities, 2011-2014. Data on sociodemographic characteristics, previous HCV testing and access to care were collected through questionnaire-based interviews. Capillary blood was tested for HCV. People injecting drugs < 5 years were considered NI.
resultsOf 2059 participants with available information on duration of injection drug use, 232 (11% were NI. Estimated HCV incidence among NI was 19.6 infections/100 person years at risk (95% CI 16-24). Thirty-six percent of NI were HCV-positive (thereof 76% with detectable RNA) and 41% of those HCV-positive were unaware of their HCV-status. Overall, 27% of NI reported never having been HCV-tested. Of NI with available information, more than 80% had attended low-threshold drug services in the last 30 days, 24% were released from prison in the last 12 months and medical care was most commonly accessed in hospitals, opioid substitution therapy (OST)-practices, practices without OST and prison hospitals.
conclusionWe found high HCV-positivity and low HCV-status awareness among NI, often with missed opportunities for HCV-testing. To increase early diagnosis and facilitate treatment, HCV-testing should be offered in all facilities, where NI can be reached, especially low-threshold drug services and addiction therapy, but also prisons, hospitals and practices without OST.
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