|
?:abstract
|
-
BACKGROUND: Rate of SARS-CoV-2 infection and impact of liver fibrosis stage upon infection rates in persons with hepatitis C virus (HCV) infection are unknown METHODS: We retrospectively analyzed the Electronically Retrieved Cohort of HCV Infected Veterans (ERCHIVES), a well-established database of HCV infected Veterans in care We excluded those with missing FIB-4 score and those with HIV or hepatitis B virus coinfection We determined the number of persons tested, proportion who tested positive for SARS-CoV-2, and the infection rate by age and liver fibrosis stage RESULTS: Among 172,235 persons with HCV, 14,305 (8 3%) were tested for SARS-CoV-2 infection and 892 (6 2%) tested positive Those with SARS-CoV-2 infection were older, more likely to be Black (55 2% vs 37 8%), obese (body mass index >30kg/m(2) 36 2% vs 29 7%) and have diabetes or stroke (p 3 25) were similar in both groups Incidence rate/1,000 tested persons was much higher among Blacks (88 4;95% CI 81 1,96 2) vs Whites (37 5;95% CI 33 1,42 4) but similar among those with cirrhosis (FIB-4>3 25) The rates were also similar among those who were untreated for HCV vs those treated with or without attaining a sustained virologic response CONCLUSIONS: Testing rates among persons with HCV are very low Persons with infection are more likely to be Black, have a higher body mass index and diabetes or stroke The degree of liver fibrosis does not appear to have an impact on infection rate
|
![[This page as RDF]](https://research.tib.eu/covid-19/static/rdf-icon.gif){kind=icon}