Hepatitis C virus infection among noninjecting drug users in New York City

The prevalence of hepatitis C virus (HCV) infection among noninjecting drug users has been reported to be higher than in the general population, but the reasons for this observation remain unclear. Noninjecting drug users aged 15–40 years and who used drugs for no longer than 10 years were enrolled...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Journal of medical virology 2003-07, Vol.70 (3), p.387-390
Main Authors: Koblin, Beryl A., Factor, Stephanie H., Wu, Yingfeng, Vlahov, David
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Administration, Intranasal
Adolescent
Adult
Biological and medical sciences
Cocaine - administration & dosage
drug users
epidemiology
Female
Hepatitis C - complications
Hepatitis C - epidemiology
Hepatitis C Antibodies - blood
hepatitis C virus
Heroin Dependence - epidemiology
Human viral diseases
Humans
Infectious diseases
Male
Medical sciences
New York City - epidemiology
Prevalence
risk behaviors
Risk Factors
Risk-Taking
Substance-Related Disorders - complications
Substance-Related Disorders - epidemiology
Surveys and Questionnaires
Viral diseases
Viral hepatitis
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Summary:The prevalence of hepatitis C virus (HCV) infection among noninjecting drug users has been reported to be higher than in the general population, but the reasons for this observation remain unclear. Noninjecting drug users aged 15–40 years and who used drugs for no longer than 10 years were enrolled in the study. The participants were interviewed about risk behaviors and had specimens drawn for serological testing. Of 276 enrolled, 4.7% were infected with HCV. Drug users who had ever sniffed or snorted heroin in combination with cocaine were significantly more likely to be infected with HCV compared with those who never sniffed or snorted heroin with cocaine. No other drug use or sexual risk behaviors were found to be associated with HCV infection. These findings suggest that sniffing or snorting heroin with cocaine may explain the increase frequently found in HCV infection among noninjectors, but further studies are necessary. J. Med. Virol. 70:387–390, 2003. © 2003 Wiley‐Liss, Inc.
ISSN:0146-6615
1096-9071
DOI:10.1002/jmv.10407