Investigators at Johns Hopkins report that injection drug users are at high
risk for contracting hepatitis B and C, and that many contract hepatitis
B or C within the first year of IV drug use.
Dr. David Vlahov and colleagues studied 716 volunteers who had been injecting
for six years or less. Seventy-seven percent of them were infected with
HCV and 65.7% were infected with HBV. Roughly 20% were
HIV-positive. Hepatitis C was more prevalent among those who reported
injection drug use for less than four months than among those who
reported injecting drugs for 9 to 12 months. Am J Pub Health
1996;86:642-646 .
Recent studies in British Columbia (1999) show that 90% of the male prison
population is infected with HCV.
