Why drug users are more prone to hepatitis

People who inject drugs can also get hepatitis. But there are ways to prevent it.

By: Admin | | Updated: July 24, 2015 7:07 am

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Around 4 crore Indians suffer from hepatitis. And of the estimated 16 million people who inject drugs worldwide, 10 million are infected with hepatitis C and an additional 1.2 million are infected with hepatitis B. Of the many ways you can get hepatitis, injecting drugs is one of the most common means of getting infected with hepatitis. Here are common causes of viral hepatitis B and C in people who inject drugs and ways to prevent them. Also Read - Your social media posts may help in diagnosing diabetes, depression and more

Shared syringes and needles

Many drug users are unable to obtain sterile syringes and thus, use infected or unsterile ones. The risk of contracting hepatitis and HIV infection occurs when people share syringes and needles. Used injections retain traces of blood and thus, might cause hepatitis if it has already been used by a person suffering from the disease.

Risk of HIV and hepatitis infections

‘Most of the interventions that prevent HIV transmission between people who inject drugs are virtually the same as those for preventing viral hepatitis B and C,’ says Dr Gottfried Hirnschall, Director of the WHO Department for HIV/AIDS. ‘So it makes sense to reduce the risk of both infections by linking viral hepatitis prevention with HIV prevention, care and treatment.’

Hepatitis is an inflammation of the liver. Together, hepatitis B and hepatitis C are the most common cause of cirrhosis and cancer of the liver. Viral hepatitis progresses faster among people living with HIV because their immune systems are weaker and causes more severe liver-related health problems than it does among people without HIV infection.

Prevention of hepatitis

To prevent hepatitis in people injecting drugs, here’s what you need to do –

Implementing and scaling up HIV prevention programmes such as clean needle and syringe programmes and opioid substitution therapy (treatment of opioid dependence with methadone or buprenophine).
Offering people who inject drugs the rapid hepatitis B vaccination regimen (completed in 3 weeks instead of 6 months), along with incentives to increase uptake and completion of the vaccine schedule.
More than 175 countries now include a cheap, safe and effective vaccine against hepatitis B in their national infant immunization schedules.
WHO has already recommended countries provide catch-up vaccination for people at increased risk of hepatitis infection, including injection drug users, but this does still not occur systematically at present. There is no vaccine against hepatitis C.
Using ‘low dead space’ syringes that retain less blood after use reduces the survival of HIV and hepatitis C in the blood that remains in the syringe. This potentially reduces the risk of transmission if injecting equipment is shared.
Involving drug users in hepatitis prevention programmes to maximize their impact.

Public health approach

‘Countries that have adopted a public health approach to injecting drug use and HIV have been the most successful in turning around their HIV epidemics. We need to do the same for hepatitis,’ says Dr Ying-Ru Lo of the HIV Department at WHO.

The new evidence-based guidelines are designed for use by national public health officials, managers of HIV, drug dependence and harm reduction programmes, civil society and health workers in low- and middle-income countries. They are intended to be tailored and implemented according to local situations and needs.

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Published : July 23, 2015 3:05 pm | Updated:July 24, 2015 7:07 am

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