Publikation

Hepatitis C virus infection and injection drug users: prevention, risk factors, and treatment

Wissenschaftlicher Artikel/Review - 15.04.2005

Bereiche
PubMed
DOI

Zitation
Backmund M, Reimer J, Meyer K, Gerlach T, Zachoval R. Hepatitis C virus infection and injection drug users: prevention, risk factors, and treatment. Clinical infectious diseases : an official publication of the Infectious Diseases Society of America 2005; 40 Suppl 5:S330-5.
Art
Wissenschaftlicher Artikel/Review (Englisch)
Zeitschrift
Clinical infectious diseases : an official publication of the Infectious Diseases Society of America 2005; 40 Suppl 5
Veröffentlichungsdatum
15.04.2005
eISSN (Online)
1537-6591
Seiten
S330-5
Kurzbeschreibung/Zielsetzung

Injection drug users (IDUs) are the largest group of persons infected with hepatitis C virus (HCV), with a prevalence of 50%-90%. The transmission of HCV is not the effect of the drug injected but of sharing contaminated equipment. For the sake of prevention, we have to know which factors are more likely to lead to HCV seroconversion and which particular situations and environments are risk factors for equipment sharing. As far as therapy is concerned, some studies have shown that treatment for HCV infection in IDUs during substitution treatment for drug dependency is as successful as is treatment of patients who are not IDUs. Screening and early treatment of IDUs could play an important role in controlling HCV infection. The rate of reinfection may not as high as supposed. All studies dealing with treatment for HCV infection in IDUs have stressed the necessity of collaboration among hepatologists and specialists in addiction medicine, social workers, and psychotherapists.