Non-injection drug use and hepatitis C among drug treatment clients in west central Mexico

Octavio Campollo, Sonia Roman, Arturo Panduro, Gabriel Hernandez, Lino Diaz-Barriga, Mario C. Balanzario, James K. Cunningham

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

17 Scopus citations

Abstract

Background: Research on hepatitis C virus (HCV) prevalence among non-injecting drug treatment clients in the United States, Europe and Asia indicate substantial differences by place. To date, little or no research on HCV and non-injection drug use (NIDU) has been conducted in Mexico. Methods: We examined the prevalence of HCV, hepatitis B virus (HBV), and HIV among non-injecting drug users (NIDUs) in community-based drug treatment (N= 122) and NIDUs in a prison-based drug treatment program (N= 30), both located in west central Mexico. Results: Among the community clients, prevalence was 4.1% (95% confidence interval [CI]: 1.8-9.2) for HCV, 5.7% for HBV (95% CI: 2.8-11.4), and 1.6% for HIV (95% CI: 0.4-5.8). Among the in-prison clients, prevalence was 40.0% (95% CI: 24.6-57.7) for HCV, 20.0% for HBV (95% CI: 9.5-37.3), and 6.7% for HIV (95% CI: 1.9-21.3). None of the clients were aware of being infected. Conclusion: The HCV prevalence found for the NIDU community treatment clients ranks among the lower HCV estimates published for NIDUs in treatment to date. The prevalence found for the in-prison clients ranks among the higher, raising a concern of possible elevated HCV infection among NIDUs in the west central Mexico prison-one compounded by the finding that none of this study's clients knew they were HCV positive.

Original languageEnglish (US)
Pages (from-to)269-272
Number of pages4
JournalDrug and Alcohol Dependence
Volume123
Issue number1-3
DOIs
StatePublished - Jun 1 2012

Keywords

  • Hepatitis b virus
  • Hepatitis c virus
  • Mexico
  • Non-injection drug use
  • Prison

ASJC Scopus subject areas

  • Toxicology
  • Pharmacology
  • Psychiatry and Mental health
  • Pharmacology (medical)

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