Researchers team up with NHS Tayside to develop Hepatitis C prevention

Treatments to prevent the spread of Hepatitis C are being explored in a new five-year research study by researchers from Glasgow Caledonian University (GCU), the University of Dundee and the NHS.

Hepatitis C (HCV), a serious liver-damaging virus, is passed on by blood and often goes undetected until later stages when significant damage has been made to the liver.

Modern treatments mean the infection is curable, but because symptoms are often mistaken for another condition it can spread through blood-to-blood contact such as needle sharing.

GCU researchers will lead others in treating up to 500 people who inject drugs over a period of two years in NHS Tayside.

Treatment will be offered in a number of settings including pharmacies, addiction services, and prisons.

The £2.8m study, funded by the National Institute for Health Research (NIHR), will be led by Professor Sharon Hutchinson from GCU’s School of Health and Life Sciences.

“The study will generate empirical evidence as to whether treating people who inject drugs can reduce the spread of infection,” she said.

“We know that people who inject drugs may become reinfected. However, we also know that the new HCV drugs are highly effective.

“We hypothesise that if HCV treatment is increased sufficiently, eventually the virus could be eliminated. The study will test this using population-level data across the UK.”

It is hoped the intervention will cut the rate of infection amongst people who inject drugs by two-thirds.

Researchers from The universities of Bristol and Cambridge, Queen Mary University of London, Health Protection Scotland, University of California San Diego, Public Health England, the Scottish Drugs Forum and the London School of Hygiene & Tropical Medicine will also contribute to the project.