AUTHOR=Zheng Yang , Ying Meike , Zhou Yuqing , Lin Yushi , Ren Jingjing , Wu Jie 

TITLE=Global Burden and Changing Trend of Hepatitis C Virus Infection in HIV-Positive and HIV-Negative MSM: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis

JOURNAL=Frontiers in Medicine

VOLUME=8

YEAR=2021

URL=https://www.frontiersin.org/journals/medicine/articles/10.3389/fmed.2021.774793

DOI=10.3389/fmed.2021.774793

ISSN=2296-858X

ABSTRACT=<p><bold>Background:</bold> The disease burden of hepatitis C virus (HCV) infection in HIV-positive and HIV-negative men who have sex with men (MSM) is changing. We aim to provide an updated comprehensive estimate of HCV prevalence and incidence among the HIV-positive and HIV-negative MSM population at the country, regional, and global levels and their changing trends over time.</p><p><bold>Methods:</bold> PubMed, Embase, PsycINFO, CINAHL, and conference databases were searched and eligible records on the prevalence and incidence of HCV antibodies were selected and pooled <italic>via</italic> a random-effects model. Meta-regression was performed to demonstrate the association between the pooled rates and study year.</p><p><bold>Results:</bold> A total of 230 articles reporting 245 records from 51 countries with 445,883 participants and 704,249 follow-up person-years were included. The pooled prevalence of HCV in MSM was 5.9% (95% CI: 5.1–6.8), with substantial differences between countries and regions. Low- and lower-middle-income countries (12.3 and 7.0%) manifested a larger disease burden than high- and upper-middle-income countries (5.8 and 3.8%). HCV prevalence in HIV-positive MSM was substantially higher than in HIV-negative MSM (8.1 vs. 2.8%, <italic>p</italic> &lt; 0.001). The pooled incidence of HCV was 8.6 (95% CI: 7.2–10.0) per 1,000 person-years, with an increasing trend over time, according to meta-regression (<italic>p</italic> &lt; 0.05).</p><p><bold>Conclusion:</bold> Global HCV prevalence in MSM varies by region and HIV status. Behavior counseling and regular HCV monitoring are needed in HIV-positive subgroups and high-risk regions. Given the upward trend of HCV incidence and sexual risk behaviors, there is also a continued need to reinforce risk-reduction intervention.</p><p><bold>Systematic Review Registration:</bold> PROSPERO, identifier CRD42020211028; <ext-link ext-link-type="uri" xlink:href="https://www.crd.york.ac.uk/prospero/" xmlns:xlink="http://www.w3.org/1999/xlink">https://www.crd.york.ac.uk/prospero/</ext-link>.</p>