Community-based molecular epidemiology study
of hepatitis C virus infection in injection
drug users
DPC Chan1, KCK Lee1, SS Lee1, TY Tan2
1 Stanley Ho Centre for Emerging Infectious Diseases, The Chinese
University of Hong Kong
2 Division of International Epidemiology and Population Studies, John E.
Fogarty International Center, National Institutes of Health, USA
1. The seroprevalence of hepatitis C virus (HCV)
was 76.4%. HCV-1b and HCV-6a were the two
most prevalent genotypes detected in injection
drug users (IDU) in Hong Kong.
2. Independent risk factors associated with HCV seropositivity were needle sharing (adjusted odds ratio [OR]=3.17), midazolam injection (adjusted OR=2.53), long duration of injection behaviour of >20 years (adjusted OR=2.45), and higher education level (adjusted OR=0.61).
3. Acute HCV infection was detected in 21 IDU, of whom 85.7% had HCV-1b infection.
4. The most recent common ancestor of the predominant HCV-6a was estimated to be around 1932, with an exponential growth of infection during 1960 to 1980.
2. Independent risk factors associated with HCV seropositivity were needle sharing (adjusted odds ratio [OR]=3.17), midazolam injection (adjusted OR=2.53), long duration of injection behaviour of >20 years (adjusted OR=2.45), and higher education level (adjusted OR=0.61).
3. Acute HCV infection was detected in 21 IDU, of whom 85.7% had HCV-1b infection.
4. The most recent common ancestor of the predominant HCV-6a was estimated to be around 1932, with an exponential growth of infection during 1960 to 1980.