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. 2014 Nov;104(11):2226-32.
doi: 10.2105/AJPH.2014.302142. Epub 2014 Sep 11.

Risk factors for HCV infection among young adults in rural New York who inject prescription opioid analgesics

Jon E Zibbell  1 , Rachel Hart-Malloy, John Barry, Lillian Fan, Colleen Flanigan
Affiliations

Risk factors for HCV infection among young adults in rural New York who inject prescription opioid analgesics

Jon E Zibbell et al. Am J Public Health. 2014 Nov.

Abstract

Objectives: We investigated a cluster of new hepatitis C cases in rural New York among a cohort of young people who inject drugs (PWID) and misuse prescription opioid analgesics (POA).

Methods: We recruited a purposive sample of PWID from Cortland County for an in-person survey and HCV rapid antibody test (March-July 2012). We examined sociodemographics, drugs currently injected, and lifetime and recent injection behaviors to ascertain associations with HCV antibody (anti-HCV) positivity.

Results: Of 123 PWID, 76 (61.8%) were younger than 30 years, and 100 (81.3%) received HCV rapid testing. Of those tested, 34 (34.0%) were positive. Participants who reported injecting POA in the past 12 months were 5 times more likely to be anti-HCV positive than those who injected drugs other than POA, and participants who reported sharing injection equipment in the past 12 months were roughly 4 times more likely to be anti-HCV positive than those who did not.

Conclusions: Our analysis suggests people injecting POA may be at higher risk for HCV infection than people who inject heroin or other drugs but not POA.

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