|
|
||||
|
|
Look under Jet Injection for more
information. Reuters Medical News Hepatitis C Virus Infection Common Among US Veterans DALLAS, Nov. 11 (Reuters Health) - Among veterans who received routine outpatient care at San Francisco Veterans Affairs Medical Center, the prevalence of hepatitis C virus (HCV) infection is 18.8%, according to the results of a recent screening study. Dr. Teresa L. Wright and Megan E. Briggs reported the finding at the 50th annual meeting of the American Association for the Study of Liver Diseases. The researchers screened 791 patients and also conducted brief interviews with each subject. Dr. Wright reported that although the highest incidence of HCV was in Vietnam-era veterans, "...actual service in Vietnam was not identified as an independent risk factor for HCV." In an interview with Reuters Health, Briggs said that the single greatest risk factor for HCV was intravenous drug abuse. Briggs told meeting attendees that in addition to IV drug abuse, risk factors for HCV infection included tattooing, needle stick associated with service as a medical team member, and incarceration in jail lasting more than 48 hours. Dr. Wright said that the Veterans Administration has developed preliminary plans to conduct a national study designed to determine the incidence of HCV among veterans. She said that the study in San Francisco and another planned for Seattle will serve as pilot studies for the larger project. Dr. Wright added that the Veterans Administration has approved the use of combination therapy with interferon and ribavirin for treatment of HCV-infected veterans. Many veterans in the VA population "...do not make good candidates for this therapy because it has many side effects associated with it," she said. "But we know that we can get a 40% response with this therapy, so we think that it is important to identify those who are infected and offer treatment if appropriate." MORE:
|
