Hepatitis C and young drug users: are they about to join the epidemic?

Abstract

This study investigated what some high-risk youth in Perth knew about, believed about and did about hepatitis C, and the extent to which they had been exposed to the virus, by surveying 234 12-to-20-year-old users of injectable drugs. About half of the respondents (108) gave a blood sample for anonymous hepatitis C virus antibody testing. All respondents had used at least one illicit drug other than marijuana in the previous 12 months and most (75 per cent) reported injecting drugs at least once in the past 12 months. The study group was obtained through drug treatment agencies and interviewer networks. Although more than 80 per cent of the study group had heard of hepatitis C, only 50 per cent considered the infection to be a serious problem. Eighty per cent of respondents were at risk of infection from unsafe injecting practices, and their relevant knowledge of hepatitis C was at best, barely adequate. Of those tested, 5.5 per cent were seropositive. A pool of infection, albeit small, already exists among this group of users of illicit drugs. Given the low average duration of illicit drug use among this group (less than 2 years) and the fact that many of the users are part of a hidden population that will probably never be in treatment, that there is any infection present is of concern. Appropriate, well-aimed education and peer outreach programs are desperately needed if the transmission of hepatitis C among young users of injectable drugs is to be kept to a minimum.