David Iser Gastroenterologist, St Vincent’s Hospital, Melbourne Andrew Chan Hepatology Fellow, Austin Health Chronic Hepatitis C virus (HCV) infection is a major cause of chronic liver disease and an important public health concern in Australia. Around 25% of acute HCV infections will clear spontaneously within 6 months; however, the remaining 75% will progress to chronic …
All people with HIV should be screened for HCV, and all people found to have concurrent HCV should be prioritised for treatment of HCV and be managed by a multidisciplinary team with experience in managing both conditions. HIV-HCV is associated with a reduced HCV clearance rate8 and a higher rate of cirrhosis compared with people …
Screening for HCV should be performed in people who have associated identifiable risk factors. Those with HCV are often asymptomatic, unless they have developed advanced liver disease. A major barrier to HCV elimination is that a substantial proportion of those who have acquired HCV are unaware of their status and not adequately screened and therefore, …
Adequate assessment of liver disease severity should be performed in all people with HCV before prescribing DAA treatment. The patient’s cirrhosis status is a requirement when seeking PBS authority, and adequate assessment of liver disease severity helps determine clinical decisions surrounding: treatment priority; factors that may adversely affect treatment efficacy, and therefore the choice of …
The primary goal of therapy is to cure HCV, defined by achieving SVR. There are multiple clinical benefits in achieving SVR including: preventing further transmission of HCV; preventing complications of HCV-related liver disease, such as hepatic inflammation, fibrosis, cirrhosis, and HCC, and extrahepatic diseases; it reduces all-cause mortality; improves individual quality of life and removes …
Grebel J, Raffa JD, Lai C, et al. Factors associated with spontaneous clearance of hepatitis C virus among illicit drug users. Can J Gastroenterol 2007;21:447–51. Poynard T, Bedossa P, Opolon P. Natural history of liver fibrosis progression in patients with chronic hepatitis C. The OBSVIRC, METAVIR, CLINIVIR, and DOSVIRC groups. Lancet 1997;349:825-32. World Health Organisation. …
Templeton DJ1,2,3, Wong AK1, Balasubramanian S1, Fargie FM1. Department of Sexual Health Medicine, Sydney Local Health District, Sydney, Australia Kirby Institute, UNSW Sydney, Sydney, Australia Sydney Medical School, The University of Sydney, Sydney, Australia Last reviewed: October 2019 Introduction The epidemiology of sexually transmissible infections (STIs) among Australian people with HIV infection varies widely, in …
Sexually transmissible infections among people with HIV infection Read More »
Epidemiology Among MSM attending Australian sexual health clinics in 2017, chlamydia and gonorrhoea incidence was approximately 60% higher among HIV-positive MSM, compared with HIV-negative, MSM (3). In the previous five years, chlamydia incidence increased by 25% and 43% among HIV-positive and HIV-negative MSM, respectively. Over the same time period, gonorrhoea incidence also increased among HIV‑positive …
Neiserria gonorrhoeae and Chlamydia trachomatis infection Read More »
Epidemiology Lymphogranuloma venereum is caused by Chlamydia trachomatis (CT) serovars L1-3 and continues to affect MSM worldwide (15). L2b is the serovar identified in the majority of LGV cases that have been diagnosed in Australia (16-21) and globally (22-24). Nationally, this infection is usually diagnosed in MSM, the vast majority of whom present with symptoms …
Epidemiology Mycoplasma genitalium (MG) is considered a new and emerging sexually transmitted pathogen (71), with an estimated global community prevalence of 1.3% (72). The prevalence of MG infection in HIV-positive individuals has not been systematically investigated in Australia, however a meta-analysis of observational studies worldwide suggested HIV-positive individuals bear a disproportionate burden of MG infection …
Developing a sustainable HIV, Viral Hepatitis and Sexual Health Workforce
Acknowledgement of Country
We pay our respects to the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples of the past, present, and future, including the Gadigal peoples (Sydney office), the Turrbal and Jagera/Yuggera peoples (Brisbane office), and all First Nations people of the nations where we live and work.
ASHM Health | ABN 48 264 545 457 | CFN 17788 | Copyright © 2024 ASHM