Direct-acting Antiviral Therapy and Reinfection Among People With Chronic Hepatitis C Virus Infection and Recent Injecting Drug Use in the Prison Setting

SHARP-P is an observational cohort study investigating the effect of direct-acting antiviral (DAA) therapy and reinfection in people with chronic hepatitis C virus (HCV) and recent injecting drug use. A prospective, observational cohort design will be used to enrol patients from correctional centres in New South Wales, Australia. Participants will be prescribed a direct-acting HCV medication as per the standard of care. The on treatment phase will vary dependent on the type of a direct-acting antiviral prescribed as per the standard of care. Once patients have completed their treatment course they will be followed up every 3 months for up to 3 years following the end of treatment phase. The study will aim to evaluate the incidence of HCV reinfection following successful DAA treatment over the three years of follow up. The study will also evaluate the proportion of patients with undetectable HCV RNA at 12 weeks post end of treatment (SVR12) with direct-acting anti-viral HCV therapy.