Hepatitis C Virus Transmission Dynamics in Injection Drug Users

• NCJ Number: 171393
• Journal: Substance Use & Misuse Volume: 33 Issue: 5 Dated: special issue (1998) Pages: 1197-1212
• Author(s): H Hagan
• Date Published: 1998
• Length: 16 pages
• Publication Format: Article
• Publication Type: Survey
• Language: English
• Country: United States of America
• Note: DCC

Annotation

The hepatitis C virus (HCV) presents several challenges to the development of drug prevention programs, particularly since HCV infection is persistent in up to 80 percent of cases and viremic individuals may transmit infection to others.

Abstract

Since 65 to 90 percent of intravenous drug users (IDUs) are anti-HCV positive, a large reservoir of infection exists in most drug injector populations. Studying the genetic variability of HCV infections can help researchers reconstruct chains of viral transmission among IDUs. The relationship between HCV and HIV epidemiology, however, remains unclear and may depend on whether the proportion of infectious persons in the population are similar for both viruses. Characteristics of the persistence of HCV and the extent of the HCV reservoir among IDUs present unique challenges to public health efforts. 58 references and 5 tables