Drug-related deaths in a population-level cohort of people living with and without hepatitis C virus in British Columbia, Canada.

ABSTRACT:

Background

The majority of new HCV infections in Canada occur in people who inject drugs. Thus, while curative direct antiviral agents (DAAs) herald a promising new era in hepatitis C virus (HCV) treatment, improving the lives and wellbeing of people living with HCV (PLHCV) must be considered in the context of reducing overdose-related harms and with a syndemic lens. We measure drug-related deaths (DRDs) among HCV-negative people and PLHCV in British Columbia (BC), Canada, and the impact of potent contaminants like fentanyl on deaths.

Methods

We identified DRDs among PLHCV and HCV-negative individuals from 2010 to 2018 in the BC Hepatitis Testers Cohort, a population-based dataset of ~1.7 million British Columbians comprising comprehensive administrative and clinical data. W

SUBMITTER: Samji H 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC7569420 | biostudies-literature | 2020 Oct

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature