Posted on May 08, 2015
Source: BuzzFeed News
A study released Thursday by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has shown that rising use of injectable painkillers may be fueling another epidemic — a sharp increase in hepatitis C.
The study looked at Kentucky, Tennessee, Virginia, and West Virginia — four states with consistently high rates of new hepatitis C infections — in the years from 2006 to 2012. In that time, new cases of the disease nearly quadrupled for people under the age of 30, with a total of 1,377 cases reported overall. Among the individuals where possible risk factors could be identified, 73% had reported injection drug use.
Nationwide, hepatitis C infections have increased by 150% from 2010 to 2013. This is just one of many consequences stemming from the spike in injectable drug use, experts say.
“It’s a dramatic increase, and it’s an increase that CDC is very concerned about,” John Ward, director of the Division of Viral Hepatitis at the National Center for HIV/AIDS, Viral Hepatitis, STD, and TB Prevention, told BuzzFeed News. “This is evolving from a state problem to a regional problem to a national problem.”
Hepatitis C is a deadly viral infection of the liver that kills nearly 20,000 Americans per year. It is spread via the blood, and in the U.S., injection drug use is currently the top risk factor for infection. It also spreads easily — it’s nearly 10 times more transmissible than HIV, for example.
“If it gets into a community, it will spread,” Shruti Mehta, a professor of epidemiology at Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health, told BuzzFeed News. “This is something that’s been going on for some time, but I think it’s time for a strong response.”
