Recognizing the importance of building and maintaining a healthcare workforce prepared to prevent, diagnose and treat viral hepatitis, the Association of Nurses in AIDS Care (ANAC) leadership advocates for ongoing viral hepatitis training and capacity building among their members. I recently had the honor of presenting during the annual meeting of these important allies in pursuing the goals of the national Viral Hepatitis Action Plan, I discussed the important role nurses—and other healthcare providers—involved in HIV prevention and care can play in addressing hepatitis B and C and we discussed viral hepatitis epidemiology, prevention opportunities, and treatment advances. In this post, I’m pleased to share some highlights of that presentation.

Among people living with HIV in the U.S., on average, an estimated 25 percent are coinfected with hepatitis C (HCV) and 10 percent are coinfected with hepatitis B (HBV). The rates of HIV/HCV coinfection are as high as 80 percent among people who acquired HIV through injecting drugs. Liver disease, often caused by HBV and HCV, has become a leading cause of death among people living with HIV/AIDS (PLWHA). However, a safe and effective vaccine is available for HBV and is recommended for all PLWHA. Furthermore, treatments are available that can prevent the progression of HBV and others that can actually cure HCV in PLWHA. But ongoing healthcare provider training is needed to improve implementation of current practice guidelines and to enhance the effective use of tools that already exist, including vaccine and effective treatments.

Shared Modes of Transmission, Vulnerable Populations

Nurses caring for patients at risk for or infected with HIV are also seeing patients at risk for or infected with hepatitis B or hepatitis C. Sexual transmission of HCV is generally considered to be rare, however, it appears to happen more often among HIV-positive men who have sex with men (MSM). New researchExit Disclaimer indicates an increase in the rates of new HCV infections among MSM between 1984 and 2012 and a letter published in Clinical Infectious DiseasesExit Disclaimer in March 2015 reviewed two cases of sexual transmission of HCV in MSM taking HIV pre-exposure prophylaxis (PrEP) -- which prevents HIV infection but does not prevent the transmission of other sexually transmitted infections. Both publications recommended the expansion of HCV prevention efforts specifically for MSM who are engaging in high-risk sexual behavior.

Transmission of HCV among people who inject drugs (PWID) is also rising; according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) the number of new HCV infections in the U.S. increased by 150 percent between 2010 and 2013. This increase is linked to the prescription opioid drug abuse epidemic in the U.S. and the resultant increase in the number of people who are injecting drugs. Research has shown that HCV is a hardy virus that can live outside the body for up to six weeks on surfaces at room temperature. These factors facilitate HCV transmission among PWID and make prevention efforts more challenging. The 2015 HIV outbreak in southern Indiana is a stark example of the shared routes of transmission—CDC identified that 84.4 percent of patients identified with HIV were coinfected with HCV. In fact, further exploration by CDC of the strains of HCV among people identified with HIV infection in this outbreak revealed that while HIV appeared to have been newly introduced into the networks of PWID, HCV had been circulating for a longer period of time. These facts signal the critical need for increased education among young people and individuals at risk for or injecting drugs so that we can begin to reverse this alarming trend.

Viral Hepatitis Prevention Tools

The hepatitis B vaccine is safe and effective and has been available in the U.S. since the early 1980s. However, despite its availability and recommendations from the Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices to vaccinate all MSM and PWID for HBV . The increase in the number of new HBV infections reported by CDC in 2013, experts from the American Association for the Study of Liver Disease and the Infectious Diseases Society of America prioritize HCV treatment for patients with HIV/HCV coinfection because of the high risk for HCV-related complications among untreated persons. Experts also prioritize treatment for HCV for persons at increased risk of transmitting HCV stating, “Successful treatment of HCV-infected persons at greatest risk for transmission represents a formidable tool to help stop HCV transmission in those who continue to engage in high-risk behaviors.” While the idea of HCV treatment as prevention is compelling and can be part of our arsenal in combating HCV in the U.S., further studies are needed to understand how best to use this tool.

My presentation, "New Opportunities to Address Viral Hepatitis in the U.S.: Nurses' Expanding Role in Public Health and Coordination of Care Exit Disclaimer" is available -- along with materials from other sessions -- on the ANAC annual conference websiteExit Disclaimer. Nurses play a critical role in educating patients and in clinical leadership, improving the quality of and access to care. We must continue to provide training opportunities and engage nurses as champions as we work to identify the most effective strategies to address viral hepatitis in the U.S. RR Galang, J Gentry, PJ Peters, J Brooks, et al. HIV-1 and HCV molecular epidemiology of a large community outbreak of HIV-1 infection linked to injection drug use of oxymorphone -- Indiana, 2015. 8th International AIDS Society Conference on HIV Pathogenesis, Treatment, and Prevention. Vancouver, July 19-22, 2015. Abstract MOAC0304LB.