Wednesday May 19, 2010
State has most cases of hepatitis
Official says sharing needles, other equipment for drug use is biggest factor in W.Va's high rate
by Tom Bragg
Daily Mail staff
CHARLESTON, W.Va. -- West Virginia has long been at or near the top of the list among the 50 states in cases of heart disease per 100,000 residents, but now it is saddled with another unwanted distinction.
It has the highest incidence of hepatitis B per 100,000 residents, according to a report from the Centers for Disease Control.
The Mountain State had 4.5 cases of acute hepatitis B for every 100,000 residents in 2007, the most recent year for which statistics are available. Oklahoma was second on the list with 4.2 incidences per 100,000.
Vicki Hogan, hepatitis B epidemiologist for the state health bureau, said the West Virginia counties with the highest rates of hepatitis in 2009 were Berkeley, Mercer, Logan, Cabell and Kanawha.
Loretta Haddy, director of the Office of Epidemiology and Prevention Services for the W.Va. Bureau for Public Health, said the sharing of needles and other equipment for drug use is the biggest factor in West Virginia's high rate.
"That's what is indicated on the reports we have received on hepatitis B, and that's all we really have to go on," Haddy said. "With the culture and population of injecting drug users in those counties, we can identify risk behavior like that and try to intervene and target those populations and minimize transmission and get out educational messages."
Hepatitis B is an illness caused by a virus that infects the liver. It causes liver inflammation, jaundice and vomiting, though it is rarely fatal. Occasionally, cirrhosis and liver cancer can result.
Statewide, the number of reported cases of hepatitis B rose from 69 in 2005 to 84 in 2009. In addition to sharing needles, the risk factors for hepatitis include having unprotected sex, especially men with other men, having many sex partners, or having had another sexually transmitted disease.
Hogan said the numbers the bureau receives are from self-reported incidents of hepatitis, and that some people are probably reluctant to talk about their sexual history and history of drug use with a physician.
"When a physician interviews the patient, they are asking them certain questions to get their history and the patients are providing the answers," Hogan said. "Some patients are not going to talk about their behaviors and history.
"Any person who is identified as positive for hepatitis B that comes through and we find out about, we can offer testing and vaccines through their local health department."
Sandra Graham, coordinator of the Adult Viral Hepatitis Program for the bureau, said vaccines are available for hepatitis B and that the virus can survive outside of the body for up to seven days.
"To date, we have 30 health departments that offer free vaccines, two jails and two substance abuse centers," Graham said. "Along with the vaccines, the nurses at these venues provide preventative educations, such as not sharing toothbrushes or razors, to help prevent them from transmitting the virus to others."
Graham said the number of vaccines administered at these venues rose 37 percent from 2008 to 2009 with 2,513 doses of the vaccine administered last year.
May is Hepatitis Awareness Month, and as part of that the state Office of Epidemiology and Preventative Services will host the W.Va. Viral Hepatitis Summit on Thursday at the Ramada Plaza Hotel in South Charleston.
Graham said the goal of the summit is to raise awareness of the hepatitis problem in West Virginia and to help prevent possible new cases of the virus.
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