Dynamic modelling of hepatitis C virus transmission among people who inject drugs: a methodological review.

Anthony Cousien (1) , Viet Chi Tran (2) , Sylvie Deuffic-Burban (1, 3) , Marie Jauffret-Roustide (4, 5) , Jean-Stephane Dhersin (6) , Yazdan Yazdanpanah (1, 7)

1 IAME (UMR_S_1137 / U1137) - Infection, Anti-microbiens, Modélisation, Evolution
2 LPP - Laboratoire Paul Painlevé - UMR 8524
3 Inflammation: mécanismes et régulation et interactions avec la nutrition et les candidoses
4 CERMES3 - UMR 8211 / U988 / UM 7 - CERMES3 - Centre de recherche Médecine, sciences, santé, santé mentale, société
5 INVS - Institut de Veille Sanitaire
6 LAGA - Laboratoire Analyse, Géométrie et Applications
7 Service des maladies infectieuses et tropicales

Equipment sharing among people who inject drugs (PWID) is a key risk factor in infection by hepatitis C virus (HCV). Both the effectiveness and cost-effectiveness of interventions aimed at reducing HCV transmission in this population (such as opioid substitution therapy, needle exchange programs or improved treatment) are difficult to evaluate using field surveys. Ethical issues and complicated access to the PWID population make it difficult to gather epidemiological data. In this context, mathematical modelling of HCV transmission is a useful alternative for comparing the cost and effectiveness of various interventions. Several models have been developed in the past few years. They are often based on strong hypotheses concerning the population structure. This review presents compartmental and individual-based models in order to underline their strengths and limits in the context of HCV infection among PWID. The final section discusses the main results of the papers.

Mots clés: Antiviral treatment; dynamic modelling; harm reduction policies; hepatitis C; injecting drug users

Domaines: Santé publique et épidémiologie; Systèmes dynamiques [math.DS]; Modélisation et simulation; Applications [stat.AP]

Anthony Cousien, Viet Chi Tran, Sylvie Deuffic-Burban, Marie Jauffret-Roustide, Jean-Stephane Dhersin, et al.. Dynamic modelling of hepatitis C virus transmission among people who inject drugs: a methodological review.. Journal of Viral Hepatitis, 2015, 22 (3), pp.213-29. ⟨10.1111/jvh.12337⟩. ⟨hal-00921544v2⟩