Suspect in hepatitis C outbreak was fired in Ariz.

"background-image:url('http://l.yimg.com/bt/api/res/1.2/.b1Vlld3PplHLR31JjSEVg--/YXBwaWQ9eW5ld3M7Y2g9MTk4MDtjcj0xO2N3PTIyNjI7ZHg9MDtkeT0wO2ZpPXVsY3JvcDtoPTE2NztxPTg1O3c9MTkw/http://media.zenfs.com/en_us/News/ap_webfeeds/775b92875494e714150f6a7067002d7b.jpg');" width

View the Original article

Former lab technician charged in New Hampshire hepatitis C outbreak

Reuters – 13 hrs ago (Reuters) - A former lab technician faces charges in connection with a hepatitis C outbreak that reportedly infected dozens of patients at a New Hampshire hospital, authorities said.

David Michael Kwiatkowski, 32, is charged with obtaining controlled substances by fraud and tampering with a consumer product, U.S. Attorney John P. Kacavas said this week.

The outbreak at the Exeter Hospital Cardiac Catheterization Unit is believed to have infected some 30 people with the disease, considered the most serious of hepatitis strains, authorities said. Hepatitis C can lead to liver cancer and cirrhosis, and kills more people each year than HIV, according to the Centers for Disease Control.

"The evidence gathered to date points irrefutably to Kwiatkowski as the source of the hepatitis C outbreak at Exeter Hospital," Kacavas said. "With his arrest, we have eliminated the menace this

View the Original article

Tech in NH hepatitis C case worked in Mich., Md.

"background-image:url('http://l.yimg.com/bt/api/res/1.2/.b1Vlld3PplHLR31JjSEVg--/YXBwaWQ9eW5ld3M7Y2g9MTk4MDtjcj0xO2N3PTIyNjI7ZHg9MDtkeT0wO2ZpPXVsY3JvcDtoPTE2NztxPTg1O3c9MTkw/http://media.zenfs.com/en_us/News/ap_webfeeds/775b92875494e714150f6a7067002d7b.jpg');" width

View the Original article

Hepatitis C Virus Levels Higher in Certain Injection Drug Users

HealthDay – Fri, Jul 13, 2012 FRIDAY, July 13 (HealthDay News) -- Among injection-drug users in the United States infected with hepatitis C, virus levels are highest among blacks, males and those who are also infected with HIV, the virus that causes AIDS, a new study finds.

A 2010 report from the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention estimates that up to 3.9 million Americans have chronic hepatitis C infection, which is a leading cause of liver cancer, end-stage liver disease and liver transplantation.

The study was published in the July issue of the journal Hepatology.

Previous research indicates that one-third of injection-drug users aged 18 to 30 -- and up to 90 percent of older users -- are infected with the hepatitis C virus. With such high rates, it's important to learn more about the characteristics of infection in this group of people, Dr. Thomas O'Brien, of the Division of Cancer Epidemiology and Genetics at the U.S. National Cancer Institute, said in a journal news release.

O'Brien also noted that hepatitis C virus levels predict treatment response in people with chronic hepatitis C.

O'Brien and colleagues looked at approximately 1,700 black, Hispanic and white injection-drug users in San Francisco. Nearly 75 percent of the participants were men. Their average age was 46 and the average age at which they first used injection drugs was 18.

"We know that the level of

View the Original article

Many Homeless May Harbor Hepatitis C

HealthDay – 4 hrs ago MONDAY, June 18 (HealthDay News) -- Nearly 27 percent of homeless adults in Los Angeles may have hepatitis C, and nearly half don't know they have the potentially deadly infection, researchers say.

Hepatitis C virus can destroy the liver and lead to a liver transplant. Recent research shows that it kills more American adults than AIDS.

For the study, researchers surveyed 534 homeless adults, most of them black men, between June 2003 and February 2004.

Tests revealed that 26.7 percent of the study participants were infected with the hepatitis C virus -- a rate more than 10 times higher than the 2 percent rate in the general U.S. population. Of the infected people in the study, 46 percent did not know they had hepatitis C.

Less than 3 percent of those who knew they were infected had ever been treated, according to the researchers from the University of California, Los Angeles.

Infection rates were much higher among those who had injected drugs or been in prison; those aged 40 or older; people with less education; U.S.-born adults; those with three or more tattoos; and users of serious non-injection drugs (excluding marijuana).

Sexual behaviors were not significantly related to hepatitis C infection, according to the study published in the July-August issue of the journal Public Health Reports.

"This and previous studies demonstrate that urban homeless adults in the U.S. are at high risk for hepatitis C virus infection," concluded study co-leader Dr. Lillian Gelberg, a professor of family medicine, and colleagues.

"Homeless adults need interventions that include hepatitis C virus education, counseling, voluntary testing and treatment services," the researchers wrote. "Hepatitis C virus prevention and treatment programs could be modeled after relevant successful interventions developed for U.S. homeless persons with HIV/AIDS."

The authors acknowledged some study limitations. While hepatitis C infection rates were based on blood tests, some of the other study measures relied on self-reporting, which is subject to recall bias.

More information

The U.S. National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases has more about hepatitis C.

View the Original article

CDC to baby boomers: Get tested for hepatitis C

"background-image:url('http://l.yimg.com/bt/api/res/1.2/kTSOh6ArW177iiMEGks3Xg--/YXBwaWQ9eW5ld3M7Y2g9MjY1O2NyPTE7Y3c9MjAxO2R4PTA7ZHk9MDtmaT11bGNyb3A7aD0yNTE7cT04NTt3PTE5MA--/http://media.zenfs.com/en_us/News/ap_webfeeds/4981c74fffd0050d100f6a70670057da.jpg');" width

View the Original article