In a recent study published in the journal Clinical Infectious Diseases, scientists from New York City, Baltimore, Seattle, and San Diego called for an immediate public health intervention to treat young injection drug users infected with the hepatitis C virus (HCV). In a careful review of over 400 individuals who tested positive for hepatitis C virus, 96% had conditions which would typically result in denial of treatment, even though they and society as a whole would benefit from such treatment.

Hepatitis C is a severe and chronic viral infection which is found throughout the globe, and more commonly among injection drug users (IDUs) up to 40% to 95% in some studies. Treatment advances have resulted in steady improvement so that at present, approximately half of HCV-infected patients will recover with modern anti-viral treatment. Success is even greater among young people. Yet many infected individuals are denied treatment due to the application of restrictive criteria, including abstinence from illicit drug use or alcohol and absence of depression. The present study presents an analysis of 404 injection drug users in Baltimore, New York and Seattle aged 18-35 who tested positive for HCV. If such restrictions were applied, almost all would be denied treatment.

"There is no credible scientific basis to deny treatment for this group of HCV infected individuals," noted Dr. Holly Hagan, now a scientist at the National Development and Research Institutes, Inc. (NDRI) in New York City, who coordinated the Seattle site of the study. "Even injection drug users who are actively using drugs show low rates of reinfection and similar treatment completion rates to others," added Dr. Hagan, who is the study's lead author. Treatment of this group of young IDUs can have important public health implications by lowering the presence of the virus in the population. In addition, the requirement of regular visits with a medical facility can favor the entran
'"/>

Contact: Betty Wagoner
wagoner@ndri.org
212-845-4644
National Development & Research Institutes
6-Feb-2006

Page: 1 2
Related medicine news :

1. Scientists train nano-building blocks to take on new shapes, as reported in Science
2. Scientists find war vets hand dexterity determines susceptibility to PTSD
3. Scientists develop method to track immune system enzyme in live animals
4. Scientists from the CIMA investigate a molecule for diagnosing hypertensive cardiopathy
5. Scientists equip bacteria with custom chemo-navigational system
6. Scientists find missing link to understand how plants make vitamin C
7. Scientists and polar explorers brave the elements in support of CryoSat-2
8. Scientists identify cells responsible for relapse after treatment in common childhood cancer
9. Scientists progress in successful tissue engineering
10. Scientists re-grow dental enamel from cultured cells
11. Scientists create dual-modality microbeads to improve identification of disease biomarkers