Seroprevalence of Hepatitis E virus in people living with HIV
Research type
Research Study
Full title
Seroprevalence of Hepatitis E virus in men living with HIV infection and its association with men who have sex with men.
IRAS ID
246846
Contact name
Emma Cunningham
Contact email
Sponsor organisation
University of Westminster
Duration of Study in the UK
0 years, 6 months, 1 days
Research summary
Hepatitis E is an emerging cause of acute and chronic hepatitis. Though predominantly a porcine zoonosis (infection acquired from pigs), it has been associated with liver abnormalities among men-who-have-sex-with-men (MSM) who are living with HIV infection. We propose to study the factors associated with hepatitis E seropositive status among attenders of sexual and HIV services. We propose to test anonymised blood samples that were tested for HIV and/or syphilis from patients that attended sexual and reproductive health and HIV clinics in a London hospital between 1st December 2018 and 30 November 2019. We aim to use a stratified sampling frame to include samples from:
1. 75 HIV seropositive MSM
2. 75 HIV seronegative MSM
3. 75 HIV seropositive men who do not identify as MSM
4. 75 HIV seronegative men who do not identify as MSM
Data collected will include age, gender, MSM behaviour, HIV serostatus
No personal identifiable data will be collected. No additional samples will be collected.
The seroprevalence of Hepatitis E will be estimated for each of the four patient groups and the odds ratio for HIV-infected versus non-HIV-infected and MSM versus non-MSM will be calculated. Univariate analysis will also be carried out to determine if there is an association between being HIV-infected or MSM and the seroprevalence of Hepatitis E.
This study is part of a professional doctorate and is funded by Charity funding.REC name
Wales REC 6
REC reference
20/WA/0111
Date of REC Opinion
31 Mar 2020
REC opinion
Favourable Opinion