Prevalence of hepatitis C among injectors in Scotland 1989–2000: declining trends among young injectors halt in the late 1990s
Open Access
- 1 April 2002
- journal article
- research article
- Published by Cambridge University Press (CUP) in Epidemiology and Infection
- Vol. 128 (3) , 473-477
- https://doi.org/10.1017/s0950268802006945
Abstract
We previously reported a continual decline in anti-HCV prevalence among young injectors from Glasgow and Lothian between 1990 and 1997. The original study was extended to ascertain if the anti-HCV prevalence among injectors from Glasgow, Lothian, Tayside and Grampian had changed since 1997. Residual sera from injectors who had undergone attributable anti-HIV testing were tested anonymously for anti-HCV. In all four regions, no significant changes in prevalence were found among those aged P = 0·03) and Lothian (1997–9: 54%–45%, P = 0·05). The findings highlight that existing harm reduction measures, acknowledged as having helped to reduce the spread of HCV, are not sufficient to bring this epidemic under control and reduce transmission to sporadic levels.Keywords
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