Prevalence of HBV and HCV infections among at-risk migrant and refugee populations in Italy: 2-year results of the VH-COMSAVAC European project.

VH-COMSAVAC is a European project, co-funded by the European Commission and involving institutions in Greece, Italy and Spain, to offer community-based HBV and HCV testing, HBV vaccination, and linkage-to-care strategies to migrant and refugee populations from countries with high HBV and HCV prevalence. The project is based on simplified tools and person-centered referral processes, to ultimately reduce liver cancer-associated mortality. Decentralized HBV and HCV testing was offered in community and faith-based organizations using HBV surface antigen (HBsAg) and anti-HCV rapid diagnostic tests (RDTs). Participants with a positive RDT were referred to our clinics to confirm an active infection and start appropriate anti-viral treatment. To date 423 individuals have been recruited and screened for HBV and/or HCV, 56% men, with a median age of 47 years (18-79). Overall HBsAg+ and anti-HCV+ prevalence was 1.7% and 2.1%, respectively. Most participants were born in Latin America (40%) followed by North Africa (19%), Central Africa (12%), Asia (13%) and Eastern Europe (8%). Of the 7 HBsAg+ individuals 2 originated from Bangladesh and the remaining from China, Dominican Republic, Ghana, Romania and Senegal. Among anti-HCV+ participants 5 were from Egypt and the remaining from Colombia, Pakistan, Russia and Ukraine. Among positive participants, three (23%) were linked to care, and 13 are in the process of being admitted to our clinics. VH-COMSAVAC has been successful in screening at-risk migrant and refugee populations in Italy, supporting the HCV and HBV micro-elimination strategy based on fragile populations migrating from high prevalence countries. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]