Author information
1
Division of Viral Products, Center for Biologics Evaluation and Research, Food and Drug Administration, Silver Spring, MD 20993, USA. marian.major@fda.hhs.gov hdahari@luc.edu.
2
Program for Experimental and Theoretical Modeling, Division of Hepatology, Department of Medicine, Loyola University Chicago, Maywood, IL 60153, USA.
3
Epidemiology and Biostatistics, School of Public Health, University of Illinois at Chicago, Chicago, IL 60612, USA.
4
Department of Physics, Bar-Ilan University, Ramat Gan 52990, Israel.
5
Division of Viral Products, Center for Biologics Evaluation and Research, Food and Drug Administration, Silver Spring, MD 20993, USA.
6
The Kirby Institute, University of New South Wales, Sydney, New South Wales 2052, Australia.
7
Disease Elimination Program, Burnet Institute, Melbourne, Victoria 3004, Australia.
8
Department of Medicine, University of Melbourne, Parkville, Victoria 3010, Australia.
9
Division of Epidemiology, Biostatistics and Preventive Medicine, Department of Internal Medicine, University of New Mexico Health Sciences Center, Albuquerque, NM 87131, USA.
10
Program for Experimental and Theoretical Modeling, Division of Hepatology, Department of Medicine, Loyola University Chicago, Maywood, IL 60153, USA. marian.major@fda.hhs.gov hdahari@luc.edu.
Abstract
The major route of hepatitis C virus (HCV) transmission in the United States is injection drug use. We hypothesized that if an HCV vaccine were available, vaccination could affect HCV transmission among people who inject drugs by reducing HCV titers after viral exposure without necessarily achieving sterilizing immunity. To investigate this possibility, we developed a mathematical model to determine transmission probabilities relative to the HCV RNA titers of needle/syringe-sharing donors. We simulated sharing of two types of syringes fitted with needles that retain either large or small amounts of fluid after expulsion. Using previously published viral kinetics data from both naïve subjects infected with HCV and reinfected individuals who had previously cleared an HCV infection, we estimated transmission risk between pairs of serodiscordant injecting drug users, accounting for syringe type, rinsing, and sharing frequency. We calculated that the risk of HCV transmission through syringe sharing increased ~10-fold as viral titers (log10 IU/ml) increased ~25-fold. Cumulative analyses showed that, assuming sharing episodes every 7 days, the mean transmission risk over the first 6 months was >90% between two people sharing syringes when one had an HCV RNA titer >5 log10 IU/ml. For those with preexisting immunity that rapidly controlled HCV, the cumulative risk decreased to 1 to 25% depending on HCV titer and syringe type. Our modeling approach demonstrates that, even with transient viral replication after exposure during injection drug use, HCV transmission among people sharing syringes could be reduced through vaccination if an HCV vaccine were available.