Factors associated with DAA virological treatment failure and resistance-associated substitutions description in HIV/HCV coinfected patients

AIMTo describe factors associated with treatment failure and frequency of resistance-associated substitutions （RAS）.METHODSHuman immunodefciency virus （HIV）/hepatitis C virus （HCV） coinfected patients starting a first direct-acting antiviral （DAA） regimen before February 2016 and included in the French ANRS CO13 HEPAVIH cohort were eligible. Failure was defned as： （1） non-response [HCV-RNA remained detectable during treatment, at end of treatment （EOT）]; and （2） relapse （HCV-RNA suppressed at EOT but detectable thereafter）. Sequencing analysis was performed to describe prevalence of drug class-specifc RAS. Factors associated with failure were determined using logistic regression models.RESULTSAmong 559 patients, 77% had suppressed plasmaHIV-RNA 〈 50 copies/mL at DAA treatment initiation41% were cirrhotic, and 68% were HCV treatmentexperienced. Virological treatment failures occurred in22 patients and were mainly relapses （17, 77%） thenundefined failures （3, 14%） and non-responses （29%）. Mean treatment duration was 16 wk overall. Posttreatment NS3, NS5A or NS5B RAS were detected in10/14 patients with samples available for sequencinganalysis. After adjustment for age, sex, ribavirin useHCV genotype and treatment duration, low platelecount was the only factor signifcantly associated with ahigher risk of failure （OR： 6.5; 95%CI： 1.8-22.6）. CONCLUSIONOnly 3.9% HIV-HCV coinfected patients failed DAAregimens and RAS were found in 70% of those failingLow platelet count was independently associated withvirological failure.

Testing for hepatitis B virus alone does not increase vaccine coverage in non-immunized persons

AIM To determine whether hepatitis B virus(HBV)-testing could serve as a gateway to vaccinate non-immunized individuals in a low-prevalent country.METHODS Non-immunized subjects participating in a multi-center, HBV-testing campaign in Paris, France were identified and contacted via telephone 3-9 mo after testing in order to determine vaccination status. Vaccination coverage was evaluated in per-protocol(for all respondents) and intent-to-treat analysis(assuming all non-responders did not vaccinate).RESULTS In total, 1215/4924(24.7%) enrolled subjects with complete HBV serology were identified as nonimmunized and eligible for analysis. There were 99/902 successfully contacted subjects who had initiated HBV vaccination after screening: per-protocol, 11.0%(95%CI: 9.0-13.2); intent-to-treat, 8.2%(95%CI: 6.7-9.8). In multivariable analysis, vaccination was more likely to be initiated in individuals originating from moderate or high HBV-endemic countries(P < 0.001), patients with limited healthcare coverage(P = 0.01) and men who have sex with men(P = 0.02). When asked about the reasons for not initiating HBV vaccination, the most frequent response was "will be vaccinated later"(33.4%), followed by "did not want to vaccinate"(29.8%), and "vaccination was not proposed by the physician"(21.5%). Sub-group analysis indicated a stark contrast in vaccination coverage across centers, ranging from 0%-56%.CONCLUSION HBV-vaccination after HBV screening was very low in this study, which appeared largely attributed to physician-patient motivation towards vaccination. Increased vaccination coverage might be achieved by emphasizing its need at the organizational level.