Aims:

Diagnosis and treatment of HCV in prisons could be a strategy to prevent the spread of infection. The aim is the development of a multidisciplinary program for HCV in prisons.

Method:

The program was implemented in three prisons between June 2016 - September 2019. Health staff was composed of nurses, physicians and hospital pharmacists. Serology tests for the detection of VHC was performed. Viral load and genotyping were determined in the positive cases. Subsequently, inmates with HCV were treated. Population data and treatments were collected. The effectiveness was assessed by response at the end of treatment (EOT) and viral response sustained at week 12 (SVR12). Tolerance was measured by irreversible adverse effects. HCV prevalence before implementation of program was compared to with prevalence after the program.

Results:

Global population was 2,065 prisoners. Patients with positive HCV serology and detectable viral load was 214. The 91.6% of patients were male. The most frequent HCV genotypes were 1a (31.3%) and 3 (26.2%). Glecaprevir/pibrentasvir (28.0%) and sofosbuvir/velpatasvir (22.9%) were the most frequently used treatments. EOT was reached by 99.5% of inmates. SVR12 was presented by 93.2% valuable patients, with 5 recurrences. There were no HCV reinfections. Irreversible adverse effects associated were observed in 2 patients. The prevalence at the beginning of program was 10.4% while it was 1.7% at the end.

Conclusions:

The multidisciplinary program of diagnosis and treatment of HCV in prisons has achieved a high cure for the disease, avoiding new reinfections and few irreversible adverse effects.

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