Prevalence of hepatitis C increasing in Massachusetts due to intravenous drug use

Although blood screening technology has helped reduce the number of new hepatitis C infections over the past several decades, health officials in Massachusetts say that the prevalence of the disease is now back on the rise due to a surge in the number of adolescent intravenous drug users in the state, according to a recent article published by Reuters Health.

"Of cases with available risk data, injection drug use was the most common risk factor for HCV transmission," said members of the Massachusetts Department of Health, quoted by the news provider.

The experts noted that data indicated an increasing trend of heroin use among adolescent Caucasians between the ages of 15 and 24.

The news source reports that out of nearly 1,200 hepatitis C cases in the state, 72 percent of these individuals indicated that they used drugs presently or in the past.

More than 3 million Americans are chronically infected with hepatitis C, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Nationwide, intravenous drug use is the cause of about one-third of these cases, the organization notes.