Impact of pandemic-induced service disruptions and behavioral changes on HCV and HIV transmission amongst people who inject drugs: a modeling study

Original research
par
Wang, Jasmine et al

Date de publication

2024

Géographie

USA

Langue de la ressource

English

Texte disponible en version intégrale

Non

Open Access / OK to Reproduce

Non

Évalué par des pairs

Yes

L’objectif

Understanding how the COVID-19 pandemic and associated mitigation strategies subsequently changed the trajectory of hepatitis C virus (HCV) and human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) transmission is critical to estimating disease burdens, identifying outbreak risk, and developing informed intervention strategies.

Constatations/points à retenir

Analyses of ALIVE data showed that during the pandemic, there was an acceleration in injection cessation trajectories overall, but those who continued injecting increased the frequency of injection; at the same time, individual drug-use networks became smaller and the probability of injecting with others decreased. Simulation results demonstrated that HCV and HIV prevalence increased from service disruptions alone, but these effects were mitigated when including observed behavior changes in addition.

La conception ou méthodologie de recherche

Using behavioral data from the AIDS Linked to the IntraVenous Experience (ALIVE) study, an ongoing community-based cohort of people who inject drugs (PWID) in Baltimore, United States, and an individual-based network model, we explored the impacts of service disruptions combined with changes in social networks and injecting behaviors of PWID on HCV and HIV transmission.

Mots clés

About people who use drugs
Harm reduction
HCV
Injecting drugs