Author:
Mon Mar 11, 1:29 PM ET (Reuters Health)
|
[
Next Thread |
Previous Thread |
Next Message |
Previous Message
]
Date Posted: Mon, March 11 2002, 12:11:26 PST
In reply to:
Anna Lok, MD Thomas Shehab MD Mauricio Orrego, M.D. UMich
's message, "Doctors/Patients Not Following Through on Hepatitis C Screening" on Mon, July 30 2001, 8:16:52 PDT
Teens in Detention May Be at Risk for Hepatitis C
Mon Mar 11, 1:29 PM ET
BOSTON (Reuters Health) - About 2% of adolescents spending time in a detention center are infected with the liver-damaging virus hepatitis C, according to a study conducted at one Texas juvenile facility.
The researchers reported the results here at the annual meeting of the Society for Adolescent Medicine.
The teens engaged in a variety of high-risk behaviors, including sharing needles to create tattoos, injecting drugs or engaging in unprotected sex. Screening for sexually transmitted diseases often does not include testing for hepatitis C, said Dr. Rita Bair, of the Indiana University School of Medicine in Indianapolis.
"Many infected individuals are asymptomatic and so may unwittingly transmit the infection to others," Bair told Reuters Health. About 1.8% of people in the general population are infected with the virus, which is the number-one cause of liver transplantation in the US.
Symptoms of hepatitis include jaundice (yellowing of the skin and whites of the eye) and abdominal pain. However, it may be 20 to 40 years before the symptoms appear.
"Seventy-five to eighty-five percent of infected individuals will develop a chronic infection. Twenty percent will go on to have cirrhosis of the liver. The infection causes fibrosis and scarring, eventually destroying the liver," Bair added. At that point, a liver transplant is the only hope for improvement.
Bair and her colleague Dr. Jacques Baillargeon, of University of Texas Health Science Center in San Antonio studied 1,002 adolescents aged 10 to 16 who were residing in a juvenile detention center in Texas. The researchers interviewed and conducted blood tests on youth who agreed to participate.
Of the study participants infected with hepatitis C, about 2% to 3% engaged in tattooing (usually done by themselves, with shared needles), body piercing and snorting drugs. Thirty-six percent of infected participants injected drugs, and about 5% to 6% engaged in anal sex.
Bair said that doctors need to screen for hepatitis C in adolescents who have taken part in high-risk behaviors.
www.hcop.org
[
Next Thread |
Previous Thread |
Next Message |
Previous Message
]
|
