U.S.
hepatitis C cases soar on spike in heroin use
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[May 12, 2017] (Reuters)
- U.S. health officials said new cases of
hepatitis C rose nearly 300 percent from 2010 to 2015, despite the
availability of cures for the liver disease, fueled by a spike in the
use of heroin and other injection drugs, according to a report released
on Thursday.
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In 2015, the national reported rate of hepatitis C was 0.8 per
100,000 persons with nearly 34,000 new infections, according to the
report by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
Access to clean syringes and a limit on Medicaid barriers to
curative treatments for hepatitis C can reduce rates of death from
the disease and transmission of the virus to others, the CDC said.
New treatments for hepatitis C with a cure rate of over 95 percent
from Gilead Sciences <GILD.O>, AbbVie <ABBV.N> and other drugmakers
have the ability to virtually wipe out the disease, which can lead
to cirrhosis, cancer, the need for a liver transplant or death.
But the opioid addiction epidemic appears to be creating tens of
thousands of new cases, with unclean needles the leading cause of
infections. Some experts say that one reason heroin use has soared
is because the illegal drug has become much cheaper than
prescription opioid painkillers and due to new limits on dispensing
of the addictive legal pain medicines.
The CDC conducted a state-by-state analysis of reported cases of the
hepatitis C virus (HCV), as well as a review of laws related to
access to clean needles for individuals who inject drugs, and levels
of restriction on Medicaid access to treatments.
In 2015, it found HCV rates in 17 states exceeded the national
average.
The analysis found only Massachusetts, New Mexico and Washington had
both a comprehensive set of laws and a permissive Medicaid treatment
policy that could help prevent the spread of HCV and provide
treatment services for those who inject drugs.
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Twenty-four states had policies that require some period of sobriety
to receive HCV treatment through Medicaid, potentially limiting
access to cures, compared with 16 states without such restrictions.
Among the best ways of preventing spread of the virus are public
health laws that allow access to clean syringes for drug users, such
as needle exchange programs, decriminalization of the possession of
syringes, and allowing the retail sale of syringes without a
prescription.
Eighteen states had no such programs, the report found, while Maine,
Nevada and Utah had the most comprehensive laws related to
prevention, including syringe exchange without limitations.
(Reporting by Bill Berkrot; Editing by Leslie Adler)
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