Treatment of Hepatitis C Virus Infections Among Patients of Ukrainian Origin During the Influx of War Refugees to Poland.

Background

The wave of wartime migration from Ukraine has raised a number of concerns about infectious diseases, the prevalence of which is higher in Ukraine than in host countries, with hepatitis C virus (HCV) infection being one of them. Our analysis aimed to assess the percentage of HCV-infected Ukrainian refugees under care in Polish centers providing antiviral diagnosis and therapy, to evaluate their characteristics and the effectiveness of treatment with direct-acting antiviral drugs (DAAs).

Methods

The analysis included patients of Polish and Ukrainian nationality treated for HCV infection between 2022 and 2024 in Polish hepatology centers. Data were collected retrospectively and completed online.

Results

In the population of 3911 patients with chronic hepatitis C treated with DAAs in 16 Polish centers in 2022-2024, there were 429 war refugees from Ukraine, accounting for 11% of the total treated. The Ukrainian population was significantly younger (45.7 vs. 51 years, p < 0.001) and had a higher percentage of women (50.3% vs. 45.3%, p = 0.048) compared to Polish patients. Patients of Ukrainian origin had less advanced liver disease and were significantly less likely to have comorbidities and the need for comedications. Coinfection with human immunodeficiency virus was significantly more common in Ukrainians than in Polish patients, 16.1% vs. 5.9% (p < 0.001). The distribution of HCV genotypes (GTs) also differed; although GT1b predominated in both populations, its frequency was significantly higher in the Polish population (62.3% vs. 44.5%, p < 0.001), while the second most common GT3 was significantly more common in Ukrainian patients (30.5% vs. 16.2%, p < 0.001).

Conclusions

Documented differences in patient characteristics did not affect the effectiveness of antiviral therapy, which exceeded 97% in both populations, but there was a higher rate of those lost to follow-up among Ukrainian patients.