Search

Late diagnosis and treatment may increase morbidity and mortality among persons with hepatitis C virus (HCV) infection. We included all participants of the Swiss Hepatitis C Cohort Study (SCCS). We used unadjusted and adjusted logistic and Cox regressions to determine the association between the geographic origin of the participants and the following outcomes: antiviral treatment status; sustained virologic response; cirrhosis at enrolment; incident cirrhosis; loss to follow-up (LTFU); and mortality. The analyses were adjusted for sex, baseline age, education, source of income, alcohol consumption, injection drug use (IDU), HCV genotype, HIV or HBV coinfection, duration of HCV infection, time since enrolment, cirrhosis, (type of) HCV treatment, and centre at enrolment. Among 5,356 persons, 1,752 (32.7%) were foreign-born. IDU was more common among Swiss- (64.1%) than foreign-born (36.6%) persons. Cirrhosis at enrolment was more frequent among foreign- than Swiss-born persons, reflecting the high frequency of cirrhosis among Italian-born persons who acquired HCV between 1950 and 1970 in Italian healthcare settings. Although antiviral treatment coverage was similar, the sustained viral response rate was increased and the mortality was lower among foreign-vs. Swiss-born persons, with the lowest mortality in persons from Asia/Oceania. LTFU was more frequent in persons from Germany, Eastern and Southern Europe, and the Americas. In conclusion, in Switzerland, a country with universal healthcare, geographic origin had no influence on hepatitis C treatment access, and the better treatment outcomes among foreign-born persons were likely explained by their lower prevalence of IDU and alcohol consumption than among Swiss-born persons. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background Without antiretroviral therapy (ART), approximately 20% of HIV-1 vertically infected infants develop severe disease manifestations before the age of 1 year and surrogate markers poorly predict infants at higher risk of rapid disease progression. Several small prospective and retrospective studies in developed countries have suggested that ART initiated early in life could prevent this rapid clinical and immunologic deterioration. Because of the small number of HIV-infected infants delivered in industrialized countries where mother to child transmission prophylaxis is widely applied, a prospective study of early versus delayed ART is currently not feasible. Implementation of early ART has varied across countries and over time since 1996 in Europe. The objective of this collaborative study was to compare the outcome of infants who received ART early in life with the outcome of those with deferred treatment. Materials and methods Children born between 01/09/96 and 31/12/2004 to mothers with known HIV infection at birth, who received neonatal prophylaxis, and diagnosed with HIV before age 3 months were eligible. The children who were identified as HIV-infected at the same time or after being diagnosed with AIDS, and children who develop AIDS before the age of 3 months were excluded. Thirteen prospective and retrospective cohorts from 11 European countries participated, enrolling a total of 210 eligible infants. Data including general demographics and pregnancy data, details of prophylaxis and ART in early life, CDC events and death, immunological and virological measurements since birth, were collected and pooled. The risk of AIDS/ death was estimated by Kaplan-Meier survival analysis, and compared between the groups of infant treated or not treated before 3 months of age. Cox regression was used to estimate hazard ratios. Results Among the 210 children, 21 developed AIDS and 3 died. The exposure to treatment was heterogeneous among cohorts. Overall ART and Highly active ART were initiated in 59% and 48% of the infants before 3 months of age and in 87% and 76% by one year, respectively. Treatment was initiated before the age of 3 months in 124 infants. There was no significant difference in demographic, pregnancy and delivery characteristics between the two groups. Moreover the proportion of infants with early treatment did not vary significantly over time. As shown in figure 1, we found that the risk of developing AIDS/death at one year was 1.6% in infants treated before the age of 3 months compared to 11.7% in infants who started treatment later (p<0.001). At 5 years the risks were 4.6% and 21.5% respectively. Deferred treatment was associated with a five-fold higher risk of AIDS has compared with treatment before 3 months of age (crude hazard ratio = 5.0; 95% CI: 2.0-12.6). Adjustment for ethnicity, birth weight, breast feeding, number and class of neonatal prophylaxis, number and class of drug in first treatment did not substantially affect the hazard ratio. Conclusion The preliminary results of this retrospective collaborative study suggest a significant association between ART started before the age of 3 months and a lower subsequent incidence of AIDS/death in infancy. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: High early mortality in patients with HIV-1 starting antiretroviral therapy (ART) in sub-Saharan Africa, compared to Europe and North America, is well documented. Longer-term comparisons between settings have been limited by poor ascertainment of mortality in high burden African settings. This study aimed to compare mortality up to four years on ART between South Africa, Europe, and North America., Methods and Findings: Data from four South African cohorts in which patients lost to follow-up (LTF) could be linked to the national population register to determine vital status were combined with data from Europe and North America. Cumulative mortality, crude and adjusted (for characteristics at ART initiation) mortality rate ratios (relative to South Africa), and predicted mortality rates were described by region at 0-3, 3-6, 6-12, 12-24, and 24-48 months on ART for the period 2001-2010. Of the adults included (30,467 [South Africa], 29,727 [Europe], and 7,160 [North America]), 20,306 (67%), 9,961 (34%), and 824 (12%) were women. Patients began treatment with markedly more advanced disease in South Africa (median CD4 count 102, 213, and 172 cells/µl in South Africa, Europe, and North America, respectively). High early mortality after starting ART in South Africa occurred mainly in patients starting ART with CD4 count <50 cells/µl. Cumulative mortality at 4 years was 16.6%, 4.7%, and 15.3% in South Africa, Europe, and North America, respectively. Mortality was initially much lower in Europe and North America than South Africa, but the differences were reduced or reversed (North America) at longer durations on ART (adjusted rate ratios 0.46, 95% CI 0.37-0.58, and 1.62, 95% CI 1.27-2.05 between 24 and 48 months on ART comparing Europe and North America to South Africa). While bias due to under-ascertainment of mortality was minimised through death registry linkage, residual bias could still be present due to differing approaches to and frequency of linkage., Conclusions: After accounting for under-ascertainment of mortality, with increasing duration on ART, the mortality rate on HIV treatment in South Africa declines to levels comparable to or below those described in participating North American cohorts, while substantially narrowing the differential with the European cohorts. Please see later in the article for the Editors' Summary.