Stable Low Hepatitis C Virus Antibody Prevalence Among HIV-Negative Men Who Have Sex With Men Attending the Sexually Transmitted Infection Outpatient Clinic in Amsterdam, 2007 to 2017

BACKGROUNDIn response to the increased hepatitis C virus (HCV) prevalence recently found among participants of the Amsterdam preexposure prophylaxis demonstration project, we evaluated HCV prevalence over time and the performance of the HCV-MOSAIC risk score for detection of HCV infection in HIV-negative men who have sex with men (MSM) attending the Amsterdam sexually transmitted infection (STI) clinic. METHODSIn October 2016, HIV-negative MSM were tested for anti-HCV and HCV RNA and completed the HCV-MOSAIC risk score. Anti-HCV prevalence was compared with that found in cross-sectional studies at the Amsterdam STI clinic (2007–2017). The time trend in HCV prevalence was modeled via logistic regression. The performance of the HCV-MOSAIC risk score, adjusted to identify prevalent HCV infection, was evaluated by calculating sensitivity and specificity. RESULTSOf 504 HIV-negative MSM tested in October 2016, 5 were anti-HCV positive (1.0%, 95% confidence interval [CI], 0.4%–2.3%) and all were HCV RNA negative. Sensitivity and specificity of the adjusted HCV-MOSAIC risk score for prevalent infection were 80.0% (95% CI, 37.6%–96.4%) and 56.1% (95% CI, 51.7%–60.4%), respectively. The overall anti-HCV prevalence among 3264 HIV-negative MSM participating in cross-sectional studies at the Amsterdam STI clinic (2007–2017) was 0.8% (95% CI, 0.5%–1.2%) and did not change over time (P = 0.55). CONCLUSIONSAnti-HCV prevalence among HIV-negative MSM attending the Amsterdam STI clinic in October 2016 was 1.0% and remained stable over time. We would therefore not recommend routine HCV screening of HIV-negative MSM at the STI clinic. However, given the increased prevalence among MSM using preexposure prophylaxis, periodic monitoring of HCV prevalence remains important.