Risk factors for hepatitis C transmission in the Victorian population: a telephone survey

Objective: To measure knowledge and prevalences of risk factors for hepatit is C infection in the Victorian community. Method: Telephone survey of 757 Victorian householders aged 15+ years, Marc h 1996 Results: An estimated 2.2% of Victorians have injected illicit drugs; 4.8% have tattoos and 49.6% have skin piercings; 11.4% received a blood transfus ion before screening for HCV was introduced; 10.9% have had a test for HCV antibody. A majority of respondents perceived sexual contact and receipt of a transfusion to be risks for HCV transmission. Conclusions: Risk factors associated with the spread of HCV are widespread in the Victorian community; however, the most important risk factor - injec ting drug use has low prevalence. Considerable uncertainty exists about ris k factors for hepatitis C. Implications: A very small percentage of Victorians are injecting drug user s and therefore at highest risk of hepatitis C infection, therefore transmi ssion control programs can be efficiently focused on this group. The Victor ian community needs to be better educated about risk factors for hepatitis C, in particular that transfusions and blood donations are safe.