Hepatitis C virus infection: Prevalence, risk factors, and prevention opportunities among young injection drug users in Chicago, 1997-1999

The prevalence, risk factors, and prevention opportunities of hepatitis C v irus (HCV) infection were studied in a large sample of 698 young adult inje ction drug users (IDUs) in Chicago, 18-30 years old. Participants were recr uited between 1997 and 1999 by using street outreach, targeted advertising, and chain-referral methods. HCV infection prevalence was 27% and was stron gly associated with both age and duration of injecting (P < .001), In multi variable analysis, sexual behaviors were unrelated to seropositivity, Indep endent drug-related risk factors included frequent injection, heavy crack s moking, injecting in a shooting gallery, and syringe-mediated sharing. Urba n residents were more likely than suburban residents to be infected. Most r esearch on hepatitis C has shown rapid spread of infection among IDUs, but these findings underscore that opportunities to identify IDUs uninfected wi th HCV may be greater than assumed and emphasize the need to target younger , newer IDUs.