WYOMING: Hepatitis Spike Due to Needles

[Guest guest]

CDC HIV/STD/TB Prevention News Update

Wednesday, March 31, 2004

WYOMING:

" Hepatitis Spike Due to Needles "

Casper Star-Tribune (03.30.04):: Van Dusen

On Monday at a joint HIV/hepatitis conference in Cheyenne,

Wyoming health officials said methamphetamine users who shared

water to rinse their needles and dissolve the drug contributed to

last year's hepatitis B (HBV) outbreak that sickened 57 people in

Natrona County. State Department of Health Hepatitis Coordinator

Clay Van Houten and High-Risk Population Specialist Rob

presented a study conducted during the outbreak that found that

those meth users who shared rinse water were 22 times more likely

to get HBV than drug users who did not.

Van Houten first noticed a spike in HBV cases in February

2003. Reported cases in the county went from zero or two in the

preceding months to around five a month in the winter and spring.

The outbreak peaked in June with 10 new cases. State and county

health officials determined that many of the cases were related

to meth use.

In addition to local and state health officials tracking

down infected cases and their contacts, CDC also sent a team to

investigate the outbreak; it plans to release a report soon.

According to , 21 people in the 113-person study

group had HBV, and 18 of those injected meth. Among the 92 people

who did not get HBV, 45 were injection drug users. Most people in

both groups shared needles. Though sharing accessories such as

spoons and cotton to filter drug impurities was also common,

sharing rinse water was the strongest indicator of HBV infection.

Van Houten reported one user told him that rinse water - often

shared by many users in a common glass at parties - " looks like

pink Kool-Aid by the end of the night " from the blood dissolved

in it.

An HBV vaccination campaign seems to have curbed the

outbreak. said officials might need to consider other

prevention approaches, such as signs warning users not to share

rinse water.

[Guest guest]

CDC HIV/STD/TB Prevention News Update

Wednesday, March 31, 2004

WYOMING:

" Hepatitis Spike Due to Needles "

Casper Star-Tribune (03.30.04):: Van Dusen

On Monday at a joint HIV/hepatitis conference in Cheyenne,

Wyoming health officials said methamphetamine users who shared

water to rinse their needles and dissolve the drug contributed to

last year's hepatitis B (HBV) outbreak that sickened 57 people in

Natrona County. State Department of Health Hepatitis Coordinator

Clay Van Houten and High-Risk Population Specialist Rob

presented a study conducted during the outbreak that found that

those meth users who shared rinse water were 22 times more likely

to get HBV than drug users who did not.

Van Houten first noticed a spike in HBV cases in February

2003. Reported cases in the county went from zero or two in the

preceding months to around five a month in the winter and spring.

The outbreak peaked in June with 10 new cases. State and county

health officials determined that many of the cases were related

to meth use.

In addition to local and state health officials tracking

down infected cases and their contacts, CDC also sent a team to

investigate the outbreak; it plans to release a report soon.

According to , 21 people in the 113-person study

group had HBV, and 18 of those injected meth. Among the 92 people

who did not get HBV, 45 were injection drug users. Most people in

both groups shared needles. Though sharing accessories such as

spoons and cotton to filter drug impurities was also common,

sharing rinse water was the strongest indicator of HBV infection.

Van Houten reported one user told him that rinse water - often

shared by many users in a common glass at parties - " looks like

pink Kool-Aid by the end of the night " from the blood dissolved

in it.

An HBV vaccination campaign seems to have curbed the

outbreak. said officials might need to consider other

prevention approaches, such as signs warning users not to share

rinse water.