A study, published in the Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report, examines acute hepatitis C virus infections in Kentucky, Tennessee, Virginia and West Virginia, according to a Medscape report.
Here are five findings:
1. Acute HCV infections increased 364 percent between 2006 and 2012 among those younger than 30 years in the aforementioned four states.
2. Those affected were primarily non-Hispanic-white residents from both urban and non-urban areas, with more than double the rate of cases from non-urban areas.
3. The median age of persons with acute infection was 25 years in both non-urban and urban counties.
4. The increased infection rates strongly correlated with opioid abuse and injection drug use.
5. Thus, integrated health care services are needed to treat substance abuse and prevent and treat blood-borne infections deriving from illicit drug use behaviors, authors noted.