Hepatitis C infects an estimated 170 million persons worldwide1 and 3.9 million persons in the United States2 whereupon a majority of those infected subsequently develop chronic infection1. Chronic hepatitis C infection has become the main indication of liver transplantation1. Risk factors for infection include injection drug use, high-risk sexual behavior, and to a lesser extent other means of percutaneous or mucous membrane exposure1,2 and perinatal vertical transmission. Coinfection with hepatitis C and HIV-1 is not uncommon and increases the number of complications in these patients1,3 Obtaining accurate incidence and prevalence data is often difficult and given the significant public health implications of this viral pandemic it is important for the local public health institutions to be aware of the extent of the disease in their communities. The New Jersey Department of Health and Senior Services (NJDHSS) and the Newark Department of Health and Human Services (NDHHS) suspect significant under-reporting of hepatitis C infection in the Newark community4 and have asked for assistance in estimating the prevalence of the disease in the Newark community.
One of the difficulties we encountered in our effort to determine the prevalence of Hepatitis C infection in the general population is that only a small number of patient care facilities routinely screen their patients for Hepatitis C. Furthermore, the clinics that do screen have higher rates of risk factors associated with Hepatitis C infection than the general population. We have focused on 4 clinics in the The University Hospital in Newark that routinely do hepatitis C screening -- the Adult, Adolescent and Child HIV clinics and the OBGYN clinic. We will review medical records on patients who live in Newark, Irvington, Orange, or East Orange, and who have been seen in one of our target clinics between January 1st 2002 and March 1, 2003.
References
1. Lauer,G.M., Walker, B.D.. Hepatitis C virus infection. N Engl J Med 2001;345:41-52.
2. Alter, M.J., Kruszon-Moran, D., Nainan, O.V., et al. The prevalence of hepatitis C infection in the United States, 1988 through 1994. N Engl J Med 1999;341(8):556-562.
3. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Prevalence of hepatitis C virus infection among clients of HIV counselingand testing sites - Connecticut, 1999. MMWR 2001;50(27):577-81.
4. Wenger, P., Personal Communication, NJDHSS, NDHHS 2003
Target Zip Codes:
Newark
07101 , 07102, 07103, 07104, 07105, 07106, 07107, 07108, 07112, 07114, 07175, 07182,
07184, 07188, 07189, 07191, 07192
Irvington
07111
Orange
07017, 07018, 07019
East Orange
07050, 07051
|
||