0
Sign In  | Subscribe
16 May 2006, Vol 144, No. 10>
Summaries for Patients | 16 May 2006

Hepatitis C Virus Infection in the United States, 1999 through 2002 FREE

[+] Article and Author Information

The summary below is from the full report titled “The Prevalence of Hepatitis C Virus Infection in the United States, 1999 through 2002.” It is in the 16 May 2006 issue of Annals of Internal Medicine (volume 144, pages 705-714). The authors are G.L. Armstrong, A. Wasley, E.P. Simard, G.M. McQuillan, W.L. Kuhnert, and M.J. Alter.


Ann Intern Med. 2006;144(10):I-20. doi:10.7326/0003-4819-144-10-200605160-00003
Text Size: A A A

What is the problem and what is known about it so far?

Hepatitis C is the most common bloodborne infection in the United States. It is caused by the hepatitis C virus (HCV), which produces inflammation of the liver. New HCV infections can cause acute liver abnormalities, which resolve in some patients without treatment. In others, infection becomes chronic and may remain active for the rest of the person's life. Chronic HCV infection often causes no symptoms even though progressive liver damage is occurring. People chronically infected with HCV may develop liver failure, severe scarring of the liver (cirrhosis), or liver cancer. Currently, infection is most commonly transmitted by injection drug use. It can also be transmitted by having unprotected sex with an infected person. Before 1992 (when widespread screening of donated blood for infection began), the virus was also transmitted by transfusions. The Third National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (NHANES III), a nationwide health survey performed from 1988 to 1994, indicated that about 3.9 million people (1.8% of the U.S. population) were infected with HCV.

Why did the researchers do this particular study?

To find out if, during the past decade, there had been any change in the characteristics of people being infected with HCV or in the patterns of infection in the United States.

Who was studied?

15,079 people who took part in a new NHANES survey from 1999 to 2002 and who provided blood samples for analysis.

How was the study done?

Participants were representative of the U.S. population. In addition to collecting information such as the participant's age, race, and ethnicity, the researchers collected blood samples and interviewed each participant to find out about sexual practices and illicit drug use. Blood samples were tested for evidence of past or present HCV infection.

What did the researchers find?

1.6% of the population had been infected with HCV, and about 80% of them had chronic active infection. Men had higher infection rates than women. Non-Hispanic black men between 40 and 49 years of age had the highest rate of infection. Infection rates were lower in participants younger than 40 years of age, and in this group there was no difference in likelihood of infection between black and white persons. The rate of infection was also lower in participants older than 49 years of age than in those 40 to 49 years of age. Infection was most strongly related to injection drug use in younger participants and to a history of blood transfusion before 1992 in older participants.

What are the limitations of the study?

Homeless people and people in jail were not included in the study even though these groups are known to have a high level of HCV infection.

What are the implications of the study?

Over the past decade, the overall rate of HCV infection has remained about the same. However, since Americans born between the late 1940s and the early 1960s have the highest rate of chronic infection, they are now reaching the age at which such complications as liver failure, cirrhosis, and liver cancer will become more prevalent.

Figures

Tables

References

Letters

NOTE:
Citing articles are presented as examples only. In non-demo SCM6 implementation, integration with CrossRef’s “Cited By” API will populate this tab (http://www.crossref.org/citedby.html).
Compression-Only CPR: Pushing the Science Forward
Cone
AAM 2010;304:1493-1495.
All you need to read in the other general jounals
BMJ 2010;341:c5893-c1494.

Comments

Submit a Comment
Submit a Comment

Summary for Patients

Clinical Slide Sets

Terms of Use

The In the Clinic® slide sets are owned and copyrighted by the American College of Physicians (ACP). All text, graphics, trademarks, and other intellectual property incorporated into the slide sets remain the sole and exclusive property of the ACP. The slide sets may be used only by the person who downloads or purchases them and only for the purpose of presenting them during not-for-profit educational activities. Users may incorporate the entire slide set or selected individual slides into their own teaching presentations but may not alter the content of the slides in any way or remove the ACP copyright notice. Users may make print copies for use as hand-outs for the audience the user is personally addressing but may not otherwise reproduce or distribute the slides by any means or media, including but not limited to sending them as e-mail attachments, posting them on Internet or Intranet sites, publishing them in meeting proceedings, or making them available for sale or distribution in any unauthorized form, without the express written permission of the ACP. Unauthorized use of the In the Clinic slide sets will constitute copyright infringement.

Toolkit

Buy This Article

to gain full access to the content and tools.

Want to Subscribe?

Learn more about subscription options

Register Now for a free account
Advertisement

Related Content

Customize your page view by dragging & repositioning the boxes below.

In the Clinic
Hepatitis C
Ann Intern Med. 2012;157(11):ITC6-1.
Hepatitis C
Ann Intern Med. 2008;148(11):ITC6-1.
Topic Collections
PubMed Articles
Analysis of hepatitis C virus (HCV) RNA load in platelets of HCV-monoinfected patients receiving antiviral therapy.
Annals of hepatology Issue date: 2013 May-Jun
Replication of hepatitis C virus in peripheral blood mononuclear cells in patients with chronic hepatitis C treated with pegylated interferon alpha and ribavirin .
Post?py higieny i medycyny doswiadczalnej (Online) Issue date: 2013

Annals of Internal Medicine

Other Resources

Copyright © 2013 The American College of Physicians. All Rights Reserved.
Print ISSN: 0003-4819 | Online ISSN: 1539-3704

Buy This Article

to gain full access to the content and tools.

Want to Subscribe?

Learn more about subscription options

Register Now for a free account
Forgot your password?
Enter your username and email address. We'll send you a reminder to the email address on record.
(Required)
(Required)